Crude gains as focus remains on Egypt, US employment - The Economic Times

LONDON: Crude oil futures rose on Friday as Egypt’s volatile situation kept markets on edge, and ahead of US employment data due later in the day. US crude was 16 cents up at $90.70 a barrel by 1109 GMT. Brent crude for March rose by 20 cents to $101.95 a barrel.

Brent touched $103.37 on Thursday, the highest intraday price since Sept. 26, 2008. “Everybody is watching what is happening in Egypt, it seems to be a crucial day,” Credit Agricole CIB analyst Christophe Barret said. Analysts said prices were likely to remain strong while the protests continue.

Egyptians fighting to oust president Hosni Mubarak hoped to rally a million people on Friday while the United States worked to convince the 82-year-old leader to begin handing over power.

“The OPEC president has said that oil above $100 is not desirable, but while Middle-East unrest continues prices will probably hold around here,” Bache Commodities analyst Christopher Bellew said. “The terrible fear must be of this unrest spreading to a major producing country like Saudi.”

Front-month Brent has rallied more than $7 since unrest in Egypt started 10 days ago, from about $95 a barrel on Jan. 25. That 8% gain is more than a third of last year’s total increase of 22%.

“Given the continued protests in Egypt and the risk of the troubles spreading to other Arab countries, crude oil should be well protected on the downside and Brent should manage to sustain the $100 mark,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.