Oil Edges Up on Middle East Conflict

Oil prices inched up in early Asian trading hours on Friday, holding on to their strong weekly gains, as investors weighed the Middle East conflict and the potential disruption in crude flows against an amply-supplied global market. Brent crude futures were up 9 cents, or 0.12%, to $77.71 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 8 cents, or 0.11%, to $73.79 a barrel. Both benchmarks were on track for weekly gains of about 8%. The market has started to price in the likelihood of supply disruptions in the Middle East, which accounts for about a third of global supply. However, the supply fears have been tempered by OPECs spare production capacity and the fact that global crude supplies have yet to be disrupted by the Middle East unrest. Source: Qatar News Agency