LONDON (Reuters) - Oil steadied with sight of the $100 milestone on Friday, supported by supply disruptions ahead of peak winter demand and tracking the dollar's dip to new lows.
U.S. crude rose 20 cents to $95.66 a barrel by 5:16 a.m. EST, off early-session highs of $96.48.
London Brent crude slipped 8 cents to $92.71.
Oil had fallen on Thursday, its second straight day of losses, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke highlighted the twin threats of slower growth and inflation for the U.S. economy, triggering profit-taking that pulled oil further back from its record high $98.62 earlier this week.
"Despite a 'shot across the bow' warning on growth coming from...the Fed chairman, commodity markets should be able to hold their own in the days ahead as they will need to see evidence of a demand slowdown before they correct themselves," said Edward Meir at MF Global.
"In energy's case, we seem to be regrouping... as we attempt yet again to take out the $100 mark on crude."
The dollar's slide to yet another record low against the euro on Friday helped maintain the allure of crude for financial investors and speculators who have helped lift oil by 40 percent since mid-August.
The loss of North Sea production due to a storm, coupled with a weeks-long outage at a diesel refinery unit in Texas, added to fears of a supply shortage, although supplies were not expected to be hit as hard as initially feared.
BP's Norwegian unit said it expected production at its 80,000 barrels per day Valhall oilfield to restart later on Friday, while Norway's StatoilHydro said it had restarted one field and would probably restart another. Continued...
Las condiciones climáticas en el Mar del Norte habrían causado el aumento.



El petróleo cerró sobre $96 el viernes mientras aumentan las preocupaciones por los suministros en invierno en el Mar del Norte, disparando preocupaciones por que supere los 100 dólares antes de 2008. Las inclemencias del clima en el Mar del Norte hizo que los precios del crudo estadounidense subieran unos 86 centavos finalizando en $96.32 por barril, y el Brent escaló en 39 centavos para posicionarse en $93.18.

Algunas plataformas del Mar del Norte – que suministran con 200.000 barriles por día aproximadamente – tuvieron que ser cerradas debido al mal tiempo, aumentado desasosiegos sobre la disponibilidad del crudo.

El crudo había aumentado drásticamente el miércoles, sobrepasando los $98 y acalorando especulaciones de que es cuestión de tiempo para que pase los 100 dólares luego de que los inventarios en caída de las naciones instaran al repentino aumento.

El precio del crudo es causado principalmente por la fuerte caída del dólar; esta caída no sólo afecta el petróleo, sino que también muy notablemente el oro, que se encuentra en su mayor exponente desde 27 años.