HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Oil futures pulled back Friday, with investors cautious ahead of a holiday-shortened week.
February crude oil (CLG4) was down 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $98.78 a barrel in electronic trading.
"While the lack of more robust buying interest could simply reflect a reluctance to pile on fresh risk ahead of the holidays, we also suspect there is some ongoing concern that Libyan oil production could resume sooner rather than later," said Citibank analyst Timothy Evans in a note on Thursday.
Libyan crude production has fallen since local rebels seized control of many oil ports in the country in July. The Libyan government said Wednesday that it was in talks with rebel leaders to get the ports reopened.
February crude on Thursday climbed 98 cents, or 1%, to close at $99.04 a barrel as markets saw the Federal Reserve's indication that it will taper its monetary stimulus in January month as a sign that the economy is improving and energy demand will increase. The U.S. Energy Information Administration also reported a drop of 2.9 million barrels in crude supplies last week.
The January crude oil (CLF4) contract expired at the end of the floor trading Thursday, rising 97 cents, or 1%, to $98.77 a barrel.
In other trading on Friday, Brent crude for February delivery (UK:LCOG4) dropped 27 cents, or 0.2%, to $110.02 a barrel.
Meanwhile, January natural gas (NGF14) turned up by 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $4.47 per million British thermal units. January gasoline (RBF4) was unchanged at $2.74 a gallon.
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