• Crude futures were firm to lower Friday, down slightly from Thursday's afternoon rally, which led to a higher settlement than the previous day. With markets currently dominated by selling sprees, followed by buybacks, prices move sideways, which makes it difficult to predict the market direction, brokers said. Moreover, with OPEC officials making contradictory comments concerning a possible output hike discussion at the next scheduled meeting on September 11, fears about tighter supplies remain on the table.

•At 11:19 London time, September ICE Brent was down 26 cents to $75.50/b. September NYMEX WTI decreased 6 cents to $76.80/b.

•After OPEC officials had made comments about whether or not to increase crude output to meet world demand, Indonesian oil minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said late Thursday, that there had been no communication between members yet on any plans to raise output after crude prices hit record highs this week.

•On the technical side, the lack of clear signals seem to result in ongoing rangebound trading, brokers said. "The market did little on Thursday to provide us any clue whether the break-out will take place to the downside or to the upside," London-based PVM brokers said in a report.

Updated: Aug 3, 2007