Oil mixed on U.S. data, pipeline attack

Forexpros - Oil futures were mixed in early Asian trading Monday, with Brent rising after word broke that militants in Nigeria attacked a pipeline, while U.S. crude fell as Friday's rally showed signs of cooling.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD97.53 a barrel, down 0.32%.

The commodity hit an earlier session high of USD97.77 and a low of USD97.52.

In the U.S. on Friday, the government announced that the economy added a net 243,000 nonfarm payrolls in January, well above expectations.

The news sent oil prices rising on hopes that a more robust economy will need more oil and derivatives to motor its recovery, although profit-taking kicked in by Monday.

In Nigeria over the weekend, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, an armed militant group, attacked a pipeline controlled by Italy’s Eni SpA oil company, according to Bloomberg.

The news sent Brent futures climbing on supply fears.

On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were up 0.09% and trading at USD114.76 a barrel, up USD17.23 from its U.S. counterpart.

The gap in price between the two contracts is pushing toward the higher end of a range between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.