Friday, pressured by economic uncertainty ahead of a possible debt deal in Greece, concerns about China's sluggish manufacturing sector and weak U.S. petroleum demand.
China's manufacturers had a sluggish start to the year, a survey of purchasing managers showed, weighing on oil and also on copper prices.
News that major powers seeking to negotiate an end to Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons are soon to lay out what Tehran would need to do return to talks added to pressure on oil prices, analysts and broker said.
"There are questions about Europe as far as (oil) demand and yesterday's weak U.S. gasoline demand numbers indicate the economy may not be doing as well as thought," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
"Signs of slowing in Chinese manufacturing didn't help and there are signs that there are efforts to take some of the tension out of the air on Iran," Flynn added.
In London, ICE Brent March crude settled at $109.86 a barrel, sliding $1.69, or 1.52 percent, having fallen intraday to $109.42, below front-month Brent's 100-day moving average at $109.62. For the week, front-month Brent fell 58 cents, or 0.53 percent.
U.S. February crude settled at $98.46, dropping $1.93, having fallen intraday to $97.91, pushing below the 50-day moving average at $99.07. For the week, front-month U.S. crude dipped 24 cents.
U.S. crude's deficit to Brent widened to $11.53 at the close, from $11.01 on Thursday.
Total Brent trading volume slipped 12 percent from its 30-day average, according to Reuters data. Total U.S. crude dealings were up 22 percent from the 30-day average.
A planned reversal of the Seaway crude oil pipeline in the United States is being delayed two months to June 1, pushing back near-term expectations that the U.S. Midwest crude oil glut will be eased.
U.S. gasoline and heating oil both weakened after Thursday's weekly oil data from the Energy Information Administration showed rising gasoline and total distillate stockpiles and weak demand.
source (Reuters) -
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