LSE: UPDATE 6-Oil climbs above $92; tension rises over Syria
By Peg Mackey
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Oil climbed above $92 per barrel on Tuesday as
the prospect of a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles and rising tension over Syria offset concern about a weakening economic outlook.
NATO member states condemned Syria on Tuesday for its shooting down of a Turkish military jet last week and Ankara warned Damascus against any further military moves.
Brent crude was up $1.15 at $92.16 a barrel by 1346 GMT after reaching a session high of $92.39. U.S. crude rose 20 cents to $79.41.
'The Turkey-Syria situation probably prompted some short covering. The market has been trending down solidly for a couple of weeks, so a bounce from the lows is not that surprising,' said Tony Machacek, an oil futures broker at Jefferies Bache.
Oil prices are expected to be underpinned by forecasts for a 700,000-barrel drop in U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week and supply disruptions in Norway and Argentina due to labour strikes.
'But economically, everything still points to the downside,' said Machacek.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its latest weekly inventories report at 2030 GMT.
The appetite for riskier assets is expected to stay low as the debt crisis grinds on in the euro zone, where Cyprus became the fifth country to seek emergency funding for its troubled banks.
And a two-day European Union summit in Brussels later this week will be the 20th time leaders have met to sort out a crisis that has spread across Europe since it began in Greece in early 2010. Investors doubt they will resolve the crisis this time.