NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices hit an
11-week high above $79 per barrel on Friday then retreated to
close lower, as markets digested the European bank stress test
results while taking support from the temporary loss of some
Gulf of Mexico oil production ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie.
U.S. crude oil for September CLUO delivery fell 32 cents,
or 0.4 percent, to settle at $78.98 a barrel, trading from
$78.40 to $79.60, the highest front-month crude price since
$80.39 was struck May 6.
Supportive economic data and the strengthening of Bonnie
lifted oil prices 3.58 percent on Thursday. For the week, U.S.
front-month crude gained $2.97, or 3.91 percent, after dipping
8 cents to $76.01 last week.
London ICE Brent futures LCOc1 fell 37 cents, or 0.48
percent, to settle at $77.45 a barrel.
"Oil had a big rise yesterday, as did the stock market, so
oil is just consolidating ahead of the weekend. The fact that
prices are holding up is technically a positive," said Chris
Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Hampton
Falls, New Hampshire.
STORM CURBS GULF PRODUCTION
By midday Friday 28.3 percent of Gulf of Mexico oil
production and 10.4 percent of natural gas output had been shut
ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement.
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But the storm is not expected to become a hurricane before
it hits the Louisiana coast on Sunday, the U.S. National
Hurricane Center said in a Friday afternoon report.
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All of the weather models agreed with the NHC that Bonnie
would move northwest across the eastern Gulf of Mexico over the
next couple of days before hitting the Louisiana-Mississippi
coasts.
