US oil hits three-month high

Oil price: US futures rose

Scanpix/AFP

Kathrine Schmidt

 17 August 2012 22:12 GMT

Brent October crude futures fell more than 1% on Friday on talk of a possible release of US strategic petroleum reserves and expectations that North Sea output will rebound after maintenance curbs production in September.

Front-month US September crude showed resilience, rising $0.41 to settle at $96.01 per barrel in choppy trade, having reached $96.28, the highest since 11 May, Reuters reported.

Following the Brent September contract's expiration on Thursday at a three-month peak of $116.90 a barrel, October Brent pared gains in post-settlement trading on news the White House was "dusting off old plans" for a potential release of strategic oil stocks.

Brent fell more than $2 before bouncing off lows on Friday when the head of the International Energy Agency said oil markets were currently well…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index