Investing.com - Crude prices came off earlier highs on Friday after markets bet that U.S. airstrikes against Sunni insurgents in Iraq will halt the advance and buffer the country's large oilfields in the south.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in September traded up 0.29% at $97.62 a barrel during U.S. trading. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of $97.18 a barrel and a high of $98.44 a barrel.
The September contract settled up 0.43% at $97.34 a barrel on Thursday.
Nymex oil futures were likely to find support at $96.55 a barrel, Thursday's low, and resistance at $102.10 a barrel, the high from July 28.
U.S. President Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for air strikes in Iraq to halt a Sunni insurgency to protect Iraqi civilians from the uprising as well as U.S. personnel in Iraq.
The Iraqi government requested assistance.
Oil prices moved off earlier highs on the news, as strikes against insurgents should halt the advance from moving any farther south, where the country's main oilfields are located.
Elsewhere, Reuters, citing Russia's Interfax, reported earlier that Russia had ended its military exercises near the Ukrainian border, which also allowed oil prices to ease off earlier highs.
Prices didn't plunge, mainly due to uncertainty how the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Gaza and in Ukraine will affect global supplies should they heat up anew.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for September delivery were down 0.58% and trading at US$104.83 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at US$7.21 a barrel.