Oil rises as improved German sentiment lifts

Oil prices rose on Friday as improved German business sentiment countered nervousness about the euro-zone debt crisis, while the weaker dollar and stronger equities also lent support.
Brent crude's gains could not prevent a second straight weekly loss. U.S. crude managed a 22-cent weekly gain as the expiring U.S. May crude contract went off the board higher, but well below its intraday peak as Wall Street pared gains.

Brent's premium to its U.S. counterpart contracted to end at $14.88 a barrel based on June settlements, after reaching $15.73 intraday, stalling ahead of the previous session's $16.03 peak. German business sentiment rose for the sixth month in a row in April. The Munich-based Ifo think tank said its business climate index inched up in April from March, to its highest level since July 2011.

The German data helped fuel the euro's climb to a two-week high against the dollar and the greenback's weakness and stronger equities added lift for oil prices. "People are talking about the Ifo being better than expected and may be reducing the fear about the debt crisis and the weak dollar and higher equities help crude, along with short covering ahead of the weekend," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

Brent June crude rose 76 cents to settle at $118.76 a barrel, having reached $119.69. It fell to $116.70 intraday on Wednesday, the lowest since Feb. 10. For the week, Brent fell $3.07, or 2.52 percent. Expiring U.S. May crude rose 78 cents to settle at $103.05 a barrel, after rising $2 to $104.27.

U.S. June crude rose $1.16 to settle at $103.88 a barrel. Friday's price gains came with total crude trading volumes still 25 percent below 30-day averages for both Brent and U.S. crude during post-settlement trading. Turnover for both contracts was under half million lots.

WOBBLY U.S. GASOLINE FUTURES
U.S. RBOB gasoline futures ended about a penny lower after tug-of-war trading, but it plunged 20 cents this week, a 6 percent loss that was the biggest weekly percentage drop since September. U.S. heating oil futures managed to end 1.25 cents higher and narrowed the deficit to gasoline to less than a penny.

While crude oil demand in the United States continued to fall in March, gasoline consumption rose for the second month in a row, the industry group American Petroleum Institute said on Friday. The API's demand figure for March is higher than the U.S. Energy Information Administration's preliminary estimate of fuel use in March. The EIA issues its revised March demand number at the end of May.

CONCERNS ABOUT IRAN
Tightening sanctions on Iran and the European Union's embargo on Iranian crude purchases set for July, along with lower North Sea production helped send Brent prices above $128 a barrel in March, the highest since 2008. But recent revived talks between Iran and major powers over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, deflating some concern about supply disruptions, along with rising Saudi Arabian and Libyan output and signs of slower U.S. economic and employment growth helped pull oil prices back from first-quarter peaks.

Iran exports have slipped to 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd), compared with an average of 2.3 million bpd in the last Iranian year that ended on March 19, Iranian oil officials said in a report. The European Union could review in the next two months an embargo on Iranian oil imports due to take effect in July, a senior EU official said.

(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Alex Lawler in London and Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

1. YSA members gain insight into agribusiness, retail industries
2. Meat industry associations quick to attack the new MCOOL rule
3. Team up against bovine respiratory disease
4. Oil prices pare losses on U.S. equities turnaround
5. Future of food discussion with Agriculture Secretary
6. Ag markets diverged prove rather volatile on Thursday

1. Former Eastern Livestock CEO, CFO sentenced for federal crimes
2. Post-tornado composting a solution for disposal of dead livestock
3. Michigan hay buyers should plan purchases early
4. More beef cows in worst drought regions than a year ago
5. Seven jobs more dangerous than farming
6. New animal identification rules aid disease traceability

1. Commentary: GMOs: How do I hate thee?
2. Commentary: In praise of animal foods
3. Seven jobs more dangerous than farming
4. What’s on America’s grill this weekend?
5. Meat industry associations quick to attack the new MCOOL rule
6. New animal identification rules aid disease traceability