LONDON: Brent crude stabilised below $103 a barrel on Friday, close to a 13-month low, on ample supplies of high-quality oil and signs faltering global economic growth may be capping fuel demand.
Economic growth in Germany and France ground to a halt in the second quarter, and implied oil demand in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, fell 6 percent in July.
Oil supplies have been increasing steadily, with US crude production up more than 3 million barrels per day (bpd) since 2010 thanks to output from shale resources that are beginning to be tapped in many other parts of the world.
Investors are now worrying less about potential supply disruptions and more about what the International Energy Agency this week called a "glut" of high-quality, light crude in the Atlantic basin, analysts and brokers say.
"Fundamentals are bearish, I think, with Libya's exports resuming and no supply disruption in the Middle East," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
October Brent crude edged up 20 cents to $102.27 a barrel by 1015 GMT.
The September Brent contract, which expired on Thursday, tumbled $2 to settle at $102.01, the lowest for front-month prices since June 2013.
US crude fell 10 cents to $95.48 a barrel. OPEC crude production hit a five-month high at more than 30 million bpd in July and more output is expected to come from Libya as it reopens eastern oil ports.
Libya is set to resume oil exports from its largest port, Es Sider, in "a few days" after it was closed for almost a year by protests, a National Oil Corp official said on Thursday.
The first oil export in a year from Ras Lanuf port left the country on Tuesday.
In Iraq, a tussle over control in Baghdad ended as Nuri al-Maliki stepped down as prime minister, raising hopes that a new coalition government could quash a Sunni Islamist insurgency in the north.
In Europe, conciliatory comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis provided some relief to investors as sanctions imposed on Russia have hurt trade.
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