NEW YORK: Brent crude oil prices were lower in choppy trading, supported by unrest in Egypt and the loss of Libyan oil exports but pressured by profit-taking after a sharp run-up in recent days.

Brent crude oil futures for October delivery were 20 cents lower at $110.20 a barrel at 1624 GMT after trading as high as $111.00.

Brent rose to a four-month high of $111.53 on Aug. 15, and traders are taking profits as the market tries to find its footing, brokers and analysts said.

“We’re witnessing peaking action,” said United-ICAP technical analyst Brian LaRose in Jersey City.

“What you’re seeing here is some pretty stiff resistance. If we don’t get a bounce here, there’s going to be some pretty big downside potential.”

US crude oil futures for September delivery were down 32 cents at $107.14.

The September contract expires at the end of trading on Tuesday. October oil futures were 40 cents lower at $106.89.

Should the relative strength index, or RSI, fall to a level of 48, “it will look pretty ominous for (West Texas Intermediate),” LaRose said. RSI was last at 57.

RSI is a closely watched technical indicator. A reading below 30 generally means the market has fallen too far too quickly and could be set for a rebound; a reading above 70 generally means prices are too high.

Libya’s oil production and exports have been crippled by violence and strikes, pushing exports to the lowest since the 2011 civil war, although one of the country’s smaller ports was reported to have reopened on Monday.

At least 850 people have died in Egypt since Wednesday in clashes pitting the followers of deposed President Muhammad Mursi against the army-backed government.

Egypt is not a major oil producer, but investors worry that unrest there could spread throughout the Middle East, which pumps more than a third of the world’s oil.

Egypt is home to the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean (Sumed) pipeline, which together carry around 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the Red Sea.

The Egyptian army has said it will guarantee the safety of the Suez Canal and the Sumed pipeline, but any disruption to supplies could have a dramatic impact on the oil market.

Goldman Sachs said it expected tighter oil markets to propel Brent to $115 “in the very near term.”

Easing some supply fears, crude flows resumed through a pipeline from Iraq’s Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Iraqi oil officials said on Sunday.

Investors remain cautious as they await more clues on when the US Federal Reserve will start tapering an economic stimulus program that has helped bolster asset prices such as oil over the last three years.

Minutes on Wednesday from the Fed’s last policy meeting will provide some clues as to when it will start scaling back stimulus, which could boost the dollar.

Fears of supply disruption eased in the US with BP saying on Sunday it could start returning offshore workers to its deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil and gas facilities after a tropical storm had dissipated.

Royal Dutch Shell said it shut units at its joint-venture 600,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, on Saturday following a fire.