SINGAPORE: Brent futures dropped towards $109 a barrel on Monday as investors took profits after steep gains, but uncertainty surrounding the crisis in Ukraine kept limited the decline.
Russia and world powers reached an agreement designed to avert a wider conflict over Ukraine, but the viability of the deal was bought into question with at least three people killed in a gunfight.
Oil and broader financial markets are watching the unfolding crisis that has already made ties between Russia, the world's largest oil producer, and the West more fraught than at any time since the Cold War, raising the risks from further economic sanctions.
Brent crude futures lost 44 cents to $109.09 a barrel by 0239 GMT, after rising to intraday highs of above $110 late last week, for the first time since early March. US crude oil futures declined 25 cents to $104.05 a barrel, after ending 54 cents up.
"The market is being supported by Ukraine although we are seeing some profit-taking coming in after the recent rise," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager at brokerage Newedge Japan.
"We may see Brent rise further by $1 to $2 a barrel if the Ukraine crisis worsens, but it will retrace as the overall market is well supplied."
Brent gained 2 percent last week, and has risen nearly 5 percent since the low of $104.79 a barrel for the year touched earlier in the month with the unfolding of the in Ukraine.
Brent looks set to trade within a broad range of between $103 and $113 a barrel, caught between geopolitical risks and an improving supply outlook with expectations of higher shipments from Libya, Iran and Iraq, Hasegawa said.
The US benchmark will rise towards $105 a barrel, and if it fails to break that key resistance level it will fall towards $100 a barrel, he said.
Even though the contract is drawing support from an improving US economy, rising US production will cap gains in prices.
Oil investors are keeping an eye on the resumption of shipments from key north African exporter Libya.
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