Oil prices inch up near $72
Ap, Undated
Oil prices inched higher Friday in Asia, holding on to gains made in the US after renewed violence and kidnappings in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained 6 cents to $71.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midday in Europe. The contract advanced 40 cents to settle at $71.81 a barrel Thursday despite larger-than-expected increases in U.S. crude and petroleum product inventories. August Brent crude rose 30 cents to $75.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London, an 11-month high. Traders said the market seemed a "a little overbought" but did not rule out further gains later Friday as the current bullish run continued. Kidnappers in Nigeria Thursday snatched a 3-year-old British girl as she was being taken to school in the country's troubled southern oil region, officials said.
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