NEW YORK: Brent crude oil prices pared some gains in choppy trading on Monday after hitting their highest level since April 2 as fears of oil supply disruptions rose on concerns about an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Brent crude futures for October delivery were 22 cents lower at $110.82 a barrel at 11:38 a.m. EDT (1538 GMT), after touching $111.68 in early trade, the highest since April 2.
The contract rose above the 10-day moving average for the first time in five sessions on a continuation chart.
US crude oil prices were pressured as traders took profits after data showed a large drop in US durable goods orders.
US crude for October delivery fell 61 cents to $105.81 a barrel, after trading as high as $107.37, the highest level in four sessions.
Unrest in the Middle East, which pumps a third of the world's oil, has spurred an increase in trading Brent crude. Large speculators raised their net long positions in Brent futures and options to a record high in the week to Aug. 20.
Tighter supply due to output disruptions in the North Sea and Libya, and positive economic data from the euro zone and China last week have also supported prices.
Oil prices have whipsawed somewhat in the last few weeks as the market weighs each piece of economic data against the expectation that the US Federal Reserve may scale back its stimulus program.
The durable goods data was the second bout of poor data after US government figures on Friday showed US new home sales dropped to the lowest in nine months.
This supported the notion that the US economy was not quite strong enough for the Fed to end its economic stimulus program, largely seen as supporting prices.
"We’re seeing the poor news on home sales Friday and durable goods today," said Bill Baruch, senior market strategist at iitrader.com in Chicago, Illinois. "It’s kept the market in check after the recovery in the last week. It did get ahead of itself."
He pegged the $106.91 level, the US contract's opening price, as the point where traders started taking profits.
Prices rose to a two-week high of $108.17 on Aug. 16 on the back of positive data from the world's two largest oil consumers, the United State. and China. But US oil futures ended last week 1 percent lower.
Prices were pressured slightly by a report that the Seaway pipeline, which carries crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Texas coast had a decreased flow.
Brent's premium to the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate had narrowed to its smallest point also in five sessions earlier in the session, at $4.02 per barrel. But the spread was last trading wider at $4.91 a barrel.
US gasoline futures RBc1 were off the three-week high they hit on Friday and were last trading a half a percent lower at $2.98 a gallon.
The gasoline-making unit at Monroe Energy's Trainer refinery began restarting, a Genscape report said.
Brent oil prices fall in choppy trading
