(Updates prices, adds details)
By Margaret Orgill
LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Oil slipped below $110 on
Friday as investors took profits after prices hit a record $111
in the previous session, but the depressed dollar was seen
limiting losses.
U.S. crude for April delivery <CLc1> fell 47 cents to
$109.86 a barrel by 1150 GMT. It touched a record for the
seventh time in a row in the previous session and is up nearly 8
percent this month and about 14.5 percent this year.
London Brent crude for April <LCOc1>, which expires later in
the day, dropped 28 cents to $107.26.
"The market is waiting to see what will happen with the
dollar. The financial flows have been overwhelming the
fundamentals in the oil market," said Mike Wittner, Global Head
of Oil Market Research at Societe Generale.
Despite Friday's profit-taking, oil prices should continue
to rise provided financial investors pump more money into the
crude market, he added.
"We've consolidated at these levels. The momentum is still
upwards" Wittner said.
Fundamentals in the middle distillates market -- heating
oil, diesel and jet fuel -- remain strong on the back of low
stocks and extensive refinery maintenance in Europe and in key
suppliers to the region.
The gas oil crack, the premium of ICE gas oil futures to
Brent, hit a new record high of $25.29 on Thursday in a sign of
tight distillate supply situation, Wittner added.
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA
A steady stream of negative economic data in top oil
consumer United States has raised fears of a recession and hit
the dollar, lifting nominal prices of most commodities traded in
the currency despite a risk of a downturn in underlying demand.
The dollar hit a record low against the euro and fell back
towards a 12-year low versus the yen on Friday as rumours of
more hedge fund failures stoked concerns about damaged credit
markets.
Market players will look towards U.S. economic figures due
later on Friday, including February U.S inflation data and the
Reuters/University of Michigan survey on consumer sentiment, for
indications on the state of health of the world's top economy.
Inflation in consumer nations have been creeping up due to
high energy costs, but the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries again shrugged off calls for more oil to pull record
prices back, giving support to crude prices.
Qatar's oil minister said on Thursday that crude oil
supplies were "very comfortable" and there is enough oil on the
market for stocks to build.
Despite OPEC's stance, oil exports, excluding Angola and
Ecuador, would fall 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the four
weeks to March 29, partly reflecting a seasonal decline in
demand, said Roy Mason, an analyst at British-based consultancy
Oil Movements who tracks future flows. []
(Editing by James Jukwey)
