By Sarah Turner and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil futures rose Friday amid ongoing worries that turmoil in Libya could disrupt supplies, with prices resuming an upward trend seen for most of the week and cementing gains atop the $100-a-barrel level.
Light sweet crude-oil futures climbed 63 cents to $102.54 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude futures rose $1.15 a barrel to trade at $115.94 on the ICE in London.
In regular trading on Thursday, crude oil for April delivery (CLJ11 102.80, +0.89, +0.87%) lost 32 cents to finish the session at $101.91, amid reports of peace efforts in Libya.
Subsequent news reports said the Libyan opposition rejected a mediation proposal by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday said that Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi must give up power and that a no-fly zone over the country is under consideration.
President Obama said that U.S. military assets are being positioned near Libya so that Washington can act should the situation deteriorate further, The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday.
Analysts said the ongoing unrest and the possibility of an escalation in violence will likely place a floor under oil futures for the time being.
“[It] will likely limit the extent of any price declines in oil, as investors will continue buying the dips. Moreover, even if the Libya situation stabilizes somewhat, in that we see a continuation of relatively low-grade fighting between the two sides, there is always a chance of upheaval somewhere else,” said analysts at MF Global.
“In this regard, Oman, Bahrain, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are all potential flash points and could spring back on the scene at practically any time,” the analysts said.
Nymex oil bounced back from its session low on Thursday after a key gauge of activity in the U.S. services sector rose in the month of February, and weekly new applicants for jobless claims fell to a level not seen since May 2008.
On Friday, investors will be looking for further signs the U.S. recovery is gaining strength when the Labor Department releases nonfarm payrolls and other employment data for February.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expect employment accelerated to a 218,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls in February after a tiny 36,000 increase in January. That would be the largest gain in employment, excluding temporary census hiring, since last April. Read: Jobs report could show quickest growth since April.
