Oil Higher On Ukraine Tensions, Data, But Posts Second Monthly Fall

U.S. crude's discount to Brent <CL-LCO1=R> narrowed to $7.23 a barrel, having touched $7.19, the smallest amount in two weeks and nearly $2 narrower than Thursday's $9.15.

Both benchmarks pushed higher toward the end of the trading session, ahead of a long holiday Labor Day weekend in the United States.

The October contract's premium to September <CLc1-CLc2> fell as low as 43 cents intraday on Thursday, reacting to a fire at BP's 413,500-barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana, refinery, but had increased to as much as 96 cents intraday on Friday.

"It's war premium, because if you're trading do you want to trade on a refinery problem that may last a few weeks or the possibility of war?" said a New York-based futures broker.

Supply Glut

Even after Friday's increases, oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic registered their second straight month of losses with Brent down 2.8 percent and U.S. crude falling 2.3 percent in August.

The European benchmark oil contract had plunged more than 12 percent from a nine-month high in June to a 14-month low last week as weak demand led to an oil supply glut.

Analysts said a suspension of Russian oil exports remained improbable despite the crisis.


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