SINGAPORE: Brent futures held steady above $107 per barrel on Thursday, as investors balanced dovish Federal Reserve comments with expectations of a rise in US crude inventories.
In prepared comments to be delivered to a Senate committee hearing later on Thursday, Janet Yellen, who is poised to be the next head of the Fed, said she thought the US central bank had more work to do to aid the economy.
"Commodities, including oil, will be very sensitive to any clues about when the tapering will take place," said Mark Keenan, head of commodities research in Asia at Societe Generale.
He was referring to the timing of any tapering in the Fed's massive bond-buying programme.
Brent for December delivery was up 18 cents at $107.30 per barrel at 0305 GMT.
The contract closed $1.31 higher on Wednesday, supported by Libyan supply outages.
US crude was 2 cents higher at $93.90 per barrel, after settling up 84 cents. The Fed's current $85-billion-a-month in bond-buying has boosted liquidity and appetite for risk assets such as oil, with Yellen's comments also supporting equities and curbing the dollar.
"The market will be pretty focused on the tone of her address.
Hopefully she'll provide some reasonable clarity, so the market can return to supply and demand dynamics," said Keenan.
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