World oil prices diverged Friday after sharp gains in the previous session as unrest in the Middle East fuels concerns about supplies from the crude-rich region, analysts said.
World oil prices diverged Friday after sharp gains in the previous session as unrest in the Middle East fuels concerns about supplies from the crude-rich region, analysts said.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June added 48 cents to stand at $65.33 a barrel in London afternoon deals.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June dipped 29 cents to $57.45 a barrel compared with Thursday's close.
On Thursday WTI had rallied $1.58 and Brent advanced $2.12.
"It seems to be profit-taking at the moment for oil after gains due to supply-side and geopolitical catalysts," Nicholas Teo, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP.
"Rumblings from Saudi Arabia about Yemen have influenced prices in the past few days," he added.
Saudi-led warplanes launched more deadly strikes in Yemen Friday.
Yemen is not a major oil-producing country, but its coast forms one side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the key strategic entry point into the Red Sea through which some 4.7 million barrels of oil pass each day on ships headed to or from the Suez Canal.
Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said oil prices will also likely see further gains following signs that US crude production is easing.
The US Department of Energy said Wednesday US production slipped by 18,000 barrels a day in the week to April 17, following a 20,000 barrel drop in the previous week.
Total crude reserves in the top crude consumer however stand at record levels, adding 5.3 million barrels in the same period.
Dealers are hoping a slowdown in US shale output could alleviate a global crude oversupply, which led to a collapse in prices of more than 50 percent between June and January.
"Although inventories obviously show bearishness, production has stopped increasing, which is an event we have been waiting for" since prices hit their low, Ang said.
