Investing.com - Crude futures advanced on Friday amid fears that Iraq is on the brink of a civil that could disrupt oil shipments, though reassurances from President Barack Obama that the U.S. won't send troops into the troubled country moved prices off earlier highs.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in July traded at $106.91 a barrel during U.S. trading, up 0.36%. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $106.39 a barrel and a high of $107.67 a barrel.
The July contract settled up 2.04% at $106.53 a barrel on Thursday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $102.62 a barrel, Monday's low, and resistance at $108.99 a barrel, the high from Sept. 19, 2013
Investors worldwide continued to track a rebellion in Iraq led by a Sunni Islamist group that threatened to take Baghdad after capturing key cities elsewhere in the country.
Markets breathed a sigh of relief, however, after U.S. President Barack Obama said he won't sent troops to Iraq and added oil continues to flow normally out of the country, which sent oil prices off earlier highs.
Elsewhere, soft U.S. economic indicators watered down oil prices as well.
In a preliminary report, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 81.2 this month from 81.9 in May, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated reading of 81.8. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 83.0 in June.
Also on Friday, official data showed that U.S. producer price inflation fell 0.2% in May, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 0.6% increase the previous month.
Core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, slipped 0.1% last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.1%, after a 0.5% rise in April.
The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of crude oil.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for August delivery were up 0.30% and trading at US$112.76 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$5.85 a barrel.