By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures were range bound in Asia Thursday as investors refrained from taking aggressive positions ahead of year-end holidays and the release of third quarter U.S. gross domestic product data later in the global day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $98.80 a barrel at 0651 GMT, up $0.13 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.16 to $107.55 a barrel. Traders said it is time for money managers and industrial consumers to settle their books and accounts, and crude is expected to range-trade in the near term with year-end festivities fast approaching. "There's no need to make speculative bets amid thin holiday trading. It's best to study and assess next year's price outlook," said a sales manager at S-Oil Corp. Still, oil investors will likely pay attention to the upcoming U.S. GDP data to gauge the growth outlook for the world's top oil consuming nation, with recent U.S. indicators, such as Tuesday's housing data and last week's employment report, showing signs of economic recovery. "We are not ruling out some additional price strength during the next couple of sessions as a result of some expected favorable GDP numbers," said energy consulting firm Ritterbusch and Associates in a research note. In addition, investors will continue to keep an eye on global headlines in the near term, given the potential for more geopolitical surprises in the Middle East and Central Asia, the S-Oil sales manager said. The sales manager noted that Iran continues to threaten to shut the Strait of Hormuz amid the possibility of fresh sanctions by the West against the Islamic state, while the ongoing oil workers' strike in Kazakhstan's oil-rich Mangistau region has put pressure on global supply. Unplanned geopolitical events "can force some inventory purchases through the global supply chain as insurance against disruption," Ritterbusch said. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for January--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 3 points to $2.6202 a gallon, while January heating oil traded at $2.9009, 78 points lower. ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $915.25 a metric ton, up $4.75 from Wednesday's settlement. -By Ga-Woon Philip Vahn, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-64154149; philip.vahn@dowjones.com

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