LONDON (Reuters) – Crude oil rose on Friday, with Brent above $116 a barrel, as Libyan security forces began a violent crackdown on protesters in Tripoli and clashed with rebels near a major oil terminal.

By 1314 GMT, Brent crude futures for April delivery were up $1.27 cents to $116.06 a barrel, after earlier touching $116.30. U.S. crude futures for April rose $1.17 cents to $103.08 a barrel, after earlier reaching $103.30.

LONDON (Reuters) – Crude oil rose over $1 on Friday, with Brent pushing toward $116, as fighting in Libya intensified with fresh reports of air strikes, and on protests in Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing Eastern Province.

By 0858 GMT, Brent crude futures for April delivery were up $1.16 to $115.95 a barrel. U.S. crude futures for April rose 86 cents to $102.77 a barrel, but earlier had rallied over $1 to touch $103.03 a barrel.

LONDON (Reuters) – Asset managers are launching an increasing number of active commodity funds designed to reduce exposure to collapsing prices in an asset class that can undergo wild swings.

Controlling losses is the Holy Grail for commodity asset managers as they seek to attract pension funds that are starting to see the risk of staying fully invested in index funds of such volatile assets.

LONDON (Reuters) – Asset managers are launching an increasing number of active commodity funds designed to reduce exposure to collapsing prices in an asset class that can undergo wild swings.

Controlling losses is the Holy Grail for commodity asset managers as they seek to attract pension funds that are starting to see the risk of staying fully invested in index funds of such volatile assets.

LONDON (Reuters) – Both Brent and U.S. crude oil rallied to 2.5-year highs on Tuesday on concerns the revolt in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East and North Africa.

“It’s like one of those Australian bushfires — once it takes hold, it’s very difficult to put out,” said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets. “Until the situation in the Middle East settles down, you are going to have very wild price swings.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Both Brent and U.S. crude oil rallied to 2.5-year highs on Tuesday on concerns the revolt in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East and North Africa.

At 0904 GMT Brent crude oil futures for April delivery were up $2.19 to $107.93, after earlier touching $108.57, whilst U.S. crude for April delivery was up at $98.15 as investors and traders became increasingly nervous about contagion.

LONDON (Reuters) – Brent crude oil rose to flirt with $104 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by lower than expected Chinese inflation figures as well as unrest in Bahrain and Iran which raised fears of potential supply disruption.

Brent crude for April delivery rose 63 cents to $103.71 a barrel by 0908 GMT, after earlier pushing to $104.04 in the session, but still off a 29-month peak of $104.30 reached on Monday.

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Investors pulled just over $2
billion from commodity exchange-traded products (ETPs) in
January as they dumped mostly precious metals in favour of
riskier assets, according to BlackRock and ETF Securities.

ETPs are securities that trade on a stock exchange and are
valued based on holdings of underlying assets, and they include
exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded commodities and
exchange-traded notes.
Asset manager BlackRock (BLK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has reported a $4.1 billion
net outflow from precious metals ETPs globally in January as
asset allocators took profit after gold’s strong run and went in
search of higher yielding assets.

LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Top European refiner Total
(TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a 23 percent increase in full-year operating
income from its downstream segment due to an improvement in
refining margins, although utilisation rates fell.

Adjusted net operating income for 2010, which includes
income from equity affiliates, rose to 1,168 million euros
($1.58 billion), compared with 953 million euros in 2009, the
company said.

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The International Energy Agency
(IEA) highlighted on Thursday concerns raised by market
participants over proposed reforms to over-the-counter
derivatives markets in the United States and Europe.

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) proposed hard position limits on the commodity futures,
options and swaps positions of speculators, saying it aimed to
reduce excessive speculation and prevent market manipulation.