By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil futures struggled for direction on Tuesday, as investors took profits, while worries over supply from the Middle East kept losses in check.
Crude-oil futures for November delivery CLX2 +0.09% fell 5 cents to $91.80 a barrel.
Prices settled just 1 cent lower on Monday, as investors digested macroeconomic data from the U.S. and China as well as escalating tensions in the Middle East and a stronger dollar.
The pressure on prices on Tuesday was largely due to “small-scale profit-taking,” according to Andrey Kryuchenkov, commodity analyst at VTB Capital.
“Also don’t forget [the November contract] expires today in London so [there’s] hardly any volume,” he said.
Worries over developments in Iran, however, capped losses in Tuesday’s trade, after the European Union the prior day tightened its sanctions against the country in relation to its nuclear program. The EU reportedly imposed stricter measures against Iran’s banking, shipping and industrial sectors as well as banning any potential gas imports to the union.
“The sanctions will further weigh on the Iranian economy and rekindle concerns over a disruption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz,” said analysts at JBC Energy.
“Several Middle Eastern countries have already taken precautionary measures against the potential closure of the strait, with Oman also announcing its plans to build the world’s largest crude-oil storage facility in order to secure supplies,” they said.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, prices were mixed.
Natural gas for November delivery NGX12 -0.29% rose 0.7% to $3.51 per million British thermal units, while heating oil for the same month HOX2 -0.05% slipped 0.1% to $3.21 a gallon.
November gasoline RBX2 +0.21% inched 0.2% higher to $2.86 a gallon.
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Crude Oil - Electronic (NYMEX) Nov 2012
US : U.S.: Nymex
$ 91.93
+0.08 +0.09%
Volume: 19,265
Oct. 16, 2012 7:30a
92.2092.0091.8091.6091.40
T
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Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
