Oil slips to $108, eyeing Ukraine, before US jobs report

LONDON: Oil edged lower to around $108 a barrel on Friday as seasonally slowing crude demand and forecasts for only modest US jobs growth in February trumped supply concerns arising from the Ukraine crisis.
The northern hemisphere is heading into spring when warmer weather and refinery maintenance curb crude demand. US non-farm payrolls at 1330 GMT are expected to have risen in February, but severe winter weather may weigh on the increase. Global benchmark Brent was down 17 cents at $107.93 a barrel at 1036 GMT.
It settled up 34 cents on Thursday. US crude, also known as WTI, was up 15 cents at $101.71, after closing 11 cents higher.
"We remain sceptical over any WTI or Brent upside in the near future amid the seasonal refinery turnaround season," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital in London. "Brent prices will have little chance of a substantial rebound unless tensions over Ukraine intensify, which now seems a less likely scenario."
Both benchmarks were on track to end the week lower. Brent is heading for a second straight weekly decline and the US contract for its first drop in eight weeks.
Oil jumped on Monday after military intervention by Russia, one of the world's top oil exporters, on the Crimean peninsula. Still, Brent has fallen more than $4 from Monday's high as the risk of war faded.
Concern over Ukraine increased again after Crimea's Moscow-backed parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and scheduled a referendum on the split for March 16.
But President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from US President Barack Obama over the military intervention. Before the two spoke on Thursday, Obama announced the first sanctions against Russia since the start of the crisis.
The tensions are expected to remain a source of oil-price support. "We will continue to see risk premium in relation to the situation in Ukraine," said Mark Keenan, head of commodities research in Asia at Societe Generale.
February's US non-farm payrolls are expected to rise by 149,000 - up from January and December, but slowed by the grip of unusually severe winter weather.