CRUDE OIL

Crude oil prices edge higher in Asian trade Friday, but remained rangebound as renewed concerns over the eurozone debt crisis offset fears over an escalation of violence in Saudi Arabia may threaten crude supply from the Middle East.

Crude oil inventories decreased by 6.2 million barrels for the week ending Nov. 18. when compared to last week, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report.

Stock index futures were lower on Wednesday as worries about the euro zone crisis and weak data from China weighed on investor sentiment, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth day of losses.

Stock index futures were lower on Wednesday as worries over Europe once again weighed on investor sentiment, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth day of losses.

Gold prices have recouped its losses as the failure of the U.S. congressional committee to reach a deal on reducing the budget deficit and the ongoing eurozone crisis brought back the bargain hunters.

The European Union proposes legislation to label crude oil derived from Canada's vast reserves of tar sands, as well as from other sources of unconventional oil, as highly carbon intensive.

The U.S.-imposed delay of TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL oil pipeline shows Canada's energy industry cannot relax efforts to improve its environmental record, a former top minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government said on Monday.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday as persistent concerns over Europe kept investors on edge after four days of market losses.

South Sudan's oil ministry said that foreign oil companies and potential buyers of its crude were on notice that no other nation or entity had been authorised to sell its oil.

It was unclear what exact steps the Treasury planned for Iran but it seemed unlikely it would seek to cut off the Iranian financial sector entirely, a move that could disrupt the global energy markets and harm the U.S. economic recovery.

According to a Wall Street analyst, the anticipated North American light crude oil surplus suggests a sustainable price discount of $6 - $8 per barrel versus similar quality waterborne barrels.

World stocks hit a one-week low on Thursday and Bunds rose as Spain paid more than at any time since 1997 to sell ten-year debt, sparking fears it may join other euro zone peripheral states in being unable to finance itself.

Crude oil prices slightly eased in Asian trading Thursday, after surging to a five-month high of $102.59 a barrel in Wednesday's North American session.

Several factors are at work in oil's latest push back above the psychologically-significant $100 per barrel level -- a price that U.S. motorists wince at.

Weekly U.S. crude inventories continued to slip, falling 1.1 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 11.

Canadian stocks looked set to open lower on Wednesday along with commodities on investor fear of contagion from the weakest debt-ridden euro zone economies such as Greece into bigger ones such as Italy, Spain and even France.

A fire broke out and was quickly extinguished Monday night in a crude distillation unit at Chevron Corp's 245,271 barrel-per-day (bpd) Richmond, California, refinery, according to notices the refinery filed with state and federal pollution regulators.

TransCanada agreed on Monday to reroute its Keystone XL oil pipeline around the Nebraska Sandhills in response to environmental concerns. The concession, which came on the heels of President Obama's decision to order a State Department re-review of the pipeline project, was a strategic move that divided the coalition of locals and environmentalists opposed the pipeline.

Crude oil prices declined to below $98 a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday as renewed concerns over the euro zone debt crisis weighed on the markets sentiment.

Despite what could be the end of the Keystone XL Pipeline, company officials maintain their optimism.

Reportedly, oil production in Libya plunged to as low as 10,000 bpd in August during the bloodiest episodes of the civil war.