Oil prices trade mixed on eve of Fed meeting
Global oil prices diverged on Tuesday in cautious trading on the eve of a key monetary policy announcement in top crude consumer the United States, dealers said.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March dropped seven cents to $113.41 a barrel in early afternoon London deals.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), added 13 cents to $96.57 a barrel.
"It has been a quiet start to the week for the oil market with rather uninspiring volume and trading activity," said energy analyst Myrto Sokou at the Sucden Financial Research brokerage in London.
"Crude oil prices continue to remain on a consolidation mode, ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting that could provide a useful insight about the US economic prospects."
The US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee was set to begin its regular monetary policy meeting which concludes on Wednesday.
In Asian trading earlier on Tuesday, the oil market had risen following upbeat US data and on concerns over unrest in Egypt and Algeria, dealers said.
"Some positive data out of the US and geopolitical turmoil in Egypt and Algeria are providing support to oil," added Victor Shum, managing director of IHS Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.
US orders for durable long-lasting goods such as vehicles, computers and machinery surged 4.6 percent in December from the previous month, led by a jump in commercial aircraft orders, data showed Monday.
It was the seventh increase in the past eight months and well above the 1.6 percent rise expected by analysts, adding to the slew of improving economic data from the world's largest economy and crude consumer.
Meanwhile, deadly street clashes in Egypt have seen President Mohamed Morsi declare a month-long state of emergency and impose night-time curfews.
The unrest in Egypt, which controls the vital Suez Canal shipping route, has sparked fears of a disruption in supply.
In Algeria, two security guards protecting a gas pipeline were killed and seven others wounded Monday in a fresh attack by Islamists southeast of the capital Algiers.
The attack came nearly a fortnight after an attack on a gas plant in the southern Sahara desert ended with the deaths of almost 40 captives, mostly foreigners.
Crude futures had staged a light rebound on Monday after the news of strong US durable goods orders.
However, price gains were tempered by comments from the head of the OPEC cartel, Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri, who said that crude supplies are plentiful to meet demand in 2013.
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