LONDON: Global oil prices nudged lower Thursday, as traders paused after recent gains but kept a keen eye over the latest developments in Ukraine, dealers said.
The market shrugged off a modest upgrade to 2014 oil demand growth from the International Energy Agency.
Brent North Sea crude for June inched down four cents to trade at $110.15 per barrel in late morning deals in London.
The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June, dropped 45 cents to $101.92 a barrel.
"It is flat really, stalling after the rally this week," VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov told AFP.
Sentiment was also dented by news that the eurozone economy grew by just 0.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, stoking fears over its recovery.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast Thursday that demand for oil this year will be slightly higher than expected, even though a weaker outlook for global economic growth will weigh on consumption.
The Paris-based grouping raised its 2014 forecast by 65,000 barrels per day to 92.8 million barrels, largely because of unexpectedly strong demand in the first quarter, driven by consumption in the US.
Traders, however, remained on tenterhooks over Ukraine, with investors seeking to shelter from riskier assets.
"No big surprises from the IEA today with the focus still on Ukraine amid elevated risk premium," added Kryuchenkov.
"Fundamentally it is hard to justify sustained gains past $110 per barrel, even amid low stockpiles in (the) OECD," he added.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.