NEW YORK: Brent crude fell on Friday on concerns about Europe's ongoing debt crisis that also weakened the euro against the dollar, while US oil prices edged lower after rallying when equities on Wall Street opened higher.
While trading was choppy, both Brent and US crude remained on pace to post weekly losses. The euro fell to more than seven-week lows against the dollar intraday, as disagreement on how to tackle the debt crisis drove borrowing costs to new euro-era highs and energy investors worried the problems will curb oil demand.
Fuelling investor uncertainty was the disagreement among policymakers over how to resolve the crisis, with Germany opposed to joint euro-zone bonds and a bigger role for the European Central Bank.
"There are talks and talks, but nothing happens," said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, an analyst at A/S Global Risk Management Ltd. US crude futures turned lower as Wall Street equities pared gains and headed lower.
US oil rallied and Brent pared losses after stocks opened higher on hopes that the holiday shopping season is getting off to a strong start and as investors went bargain hunting after six straight lower closes on Wall Street.
Also limiting oil's slide were geopolitical tensions over Iran's nuclear program and Middle East unrest.
ICE Brent January crude fell $1.72 to $106.06 a barrel by 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT). The $105.85 intraday low put prices under front-month Brent's 300-day moving average of $105.98.
US January crude fell 14 cent to $96.03 a barrel having swung from $94.99 to $97.47. Brent's weakness pushed its premium to its US counterpart below $10 a barrel intraday.
Low crude trading volumes contributed to oil's price volatility with many traders still out after Thursday's US Thanksgiving holiday and with markets closing early on Friday.
Both Brent volumes were 54 percent below the 30-day average and US crude was 67 percent below its 30-day average.
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