LONDON--Oil prices were stable Friday as renewed tension in the Middle East lent support to prices, even amid turmoil in the global economy.
At 1105 GMT, the January Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was at $108.10, up 8 cents, or 0.1%. Nymex light, sweet crude for December delivery was down 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $85.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said Friday's retreat shows oil participants are worried prices won't see another bounce for the rest of the year.
"Any opportunity to ease off the books seems to be the way some are playing at the moment," Mr. Hansen said.
He said he expects prices to be rangebound or to head lower.
Commerzbank said in a note Friday that North Sea supply appears to be normalizing, which is weighing on the front- month forward contract for Brent.
The latest data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude oil stocks rose 1.1 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 9. At 375.9 million barrels, stocks are at their highest level since July 20 and are 11.5%, or nearly 39 million barrels, above the year-earlier level.
At 1105 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for December delivery was down $5.50, or 0.62%, at $925.50 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for December delivery was down 64 points, or 0.2%, at $2.6898 per gallon.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@dowjones.com
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