LONDON—Crude-oil futures rose as tensions in Egypt kept fears of supply interruptions alive, though a stronger dollar limited gains.
The front-month March Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange recently was up 70 cents at $101.57 a barrel. The front-month March contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 45 cents higher at $87.20 a barrel.
The market carried over the momentum from late Thursday, which sprang from a speech by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak where he said he would remain in office until elections in September, stoking the ire of protesters gathered in central Cairo.
A statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Force on Friday urged protesters "to go back to work and go back to their daily routines," raised tensions by potentially forcing a confrontation between the military and demonstrators.
Oil markets have closely tracked the unrest in Egypt in recent days amid worries that protests in the Arab world's most populous country could spread to major oil exporters in the region or cause disruptions to the Suez Canal or Sumed Pipeline, key oil routes running through Egypt. Brent prices are up 6.6% since late January, when the protests began.
"Any increase in unrest or violence in Egypt is likely to see a concurrent rise in both [Nymex] and Brent crude oil prices," said Daniel W. Hwang, senior market strategist at Forex.com.
However, a stronger dollar kept a lid on oil prices, by making the commodity more expensive to buy for investors holding other currencies. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, shot to a three-week high
Meanwhile, the Brent crude premium over Nymex futures has narrowed to around $14 a barrel Friday, after ballooning as wide as a record $16.10 a barrel Thursday. Nymex futures have not seen the same gains as Brent this year, held back by record inventories at the contract's delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma.
The ICE's gasoil contract for March delivery was down $6.00 at $855.75 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for March delivery was up 1.40 cents at $2.4838 a gallon.
