Flowing normally: Iraqi pipes
Oil eases as Iraq flow resumes
US crude oil futures ended more than $2 lower on Friday as flows resumed from an Iraqi pipeline damaged in an explosion on Thursday.
Traders also booked profits after three days of hefty gains.
Nymex crude for May delivery last traded down $2.03, or 1.89%, at $105.55 a barrel, trading from $104.71 to $107.63.
"You can't discount the Iraqi oil flow returning to normal as a reason for crude oil's fall," said Eric Wittenauer, an analyst at Wachovia Securities in St. Louis, Missouri:
"There is also profit-taking after three days of substantial gains on crude ... At the same time, oil is moving down with gold, which has fallen over $20, and other base metals are lower as well," he added.
While the flow of Iraqi oil exports from Basra normalised, heavy fighting throughout the region has sparked unease about the security of the country's southern oil fields and pipelines.
The saboteurs' attack on Basra's oil pipeline system on Thursday interrupted exports from the south of the country for the first time since 2004.
By Friday the southern oil pipeline system, which usually pumps at least 1.5 million barrels per day, was flowing at above normal levels to the Basra export terminal.
Meanwhile, the dollar edged toward record lows against the euro after US data showed inflation pressures were tame in February, affirming expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve to boost a weakening economy.