•Global crude futures were moving sideways Friday, looking for direction after most of the recent market-moving news eased, as Mexican crude oil production seems back on track, Pemex said.

•Front-month ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI failed to break through the $70/b mark, with ICE Brent catching up to WTI, even trading at times to a premium to the US Light Sweet crude contract. This development was a result of the latest US weekly inventory data, which showed an unexpected build in crude stocks, sources said. At 11:04 London time, October ICE Brent was down 18 cents to $69.68/b, while October NYMEX WTI fell 12 cents to $69.71/b, with Brent trading to a premium to WTI of 3 cents/b in intra-day trading for the first time in a month.

•"With no fresh supportive news out and Hurricane Dean gone, the market is quiet this morning, but I think we could see a bit of profit-taking this afternoon ahead of the weekend," a London-based broker said. "However, falling Asian and European stock markets on Friday morning are always an issue that can strike at any time...until we know the banks' true exposure to the subprime mortgage market there is a real threat to the stock market and consequently commodity markets in general," the broker added.

Updated: August 24, 2007