New York (Platts)--17Jul2014/1208 pm EDT/1608 GMT

Oil futures pushed higher in afternoon New York trading Thursday on reports that a Malaysian airliner had crashed in eastern Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official told the Associated Press that an airliner was shot down in the eastern part of the country, according to an ABC News report.

NYMEX August crude was $1.39 higher at $102.59/barrel. ICE September Brent was 37 cents higher at $107.54/b at 1631 GMT.

Refined product futures were down, but off session lows with NYMEX August ULSD at $2.8521/gal, down 57 points, and August RBOB 19 points lower at $2.8806/gal.

AFP reported that a Malaysian airliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are battling government forces, Russian and Ukrainian newsagencies reported, citing aviation and security sources. Other media reports have indicated the plane may have been shot down in a hostile action in the crisis-hit region.

Analyst Gene McGillian of Tradition Energy said reports of the crash have prompted renewed supply-side concerns in the oil market.

"The idea that fighting in the Ukraine/Russia region is unresolved has led the market to price back in some of its geopolitical risk," McGillian said. "Any escalation from hot spots like Ukraine or Iraq will cause a rebound in prices and for WTI we are seeing it up over $3/b from a recent low. Trading
is pretty volatile."

McGillian noted though, that NYMEX crude was up more than ICE Brent, suggesting that a lot of the push higher has to do with data Wednesday that showed US crude stocks fell a larger-than-expected 7.5 million barrels in the week that ended July 11.

--Alison Ciaccio, alison.ciaccio@platts.com
--Edited by Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron.greenhalgh@platts.com

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/oil/newyork/oil-futures-push-higher-after-reports-of-a-plane-21927052