By Cheang Chee Yew Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRESSINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures rose in Asia Thursday, with prices moving in a narrow range as traders waited to take direction from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Friday and sought more clarity from Libya.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at $85.52 a barrel at 0632 GMT, up $0.36 in the Globex electronic session. October Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.59 to $110.74 a barrel.
The occasion of Bernanke's address to central bankers in Jackson Hole has raised hopes of new stimulus measures to boost the U.S. economy. The optimism is fading, however, as the Fed hasn't given any indication that it is ready to provide additional economic stimulus.
"I don't think [Bernanke's] speech will have any major impact on the oil markets," Tokyo-based Astmax fund manager Tomohisa Okada said.
Okada said he expects Nymex crude futures will over the next few sessions remain in the $80-$90-a-barrel range they have kept within for most of the month, adding that he remains bullish over the longer term.
Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch & Assoc. said Bernanke's speech will likely fade from the spotlight in the coming days. "We expect an attention shift away from the U.S. monetary policy and back toward European sovereign debt issues," with weak oil demand from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development adding further downside pressure on crude, he said tipping Nymex crude to likely slide to $75 a barrel and Brent to $95-$100 a barrel next week on dollar strength. Ritterbusch said the euro might fall to around $1.40 against the U.S. dollar from around $1.4425.
Separately, while Libyan rebel forces have seized Col. Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, markets are awaiting more tangible signs that the country's oil exports--totaling around 1.3 million barrels a day before the civil war broke out in February--have resumed.
"We do not expect any significant sudden rush of Libyan exports sufficient to affect the global oil market significantly...the road to full recovery is likely to be long," analysts at Barclays Capital said in a note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for September--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 85 points to $2.8869 a gallon, while September heating oil traded at $2.9647, 40 points higher.
ICE gasoil for September changed hands at $942.00 a metric ton, down $0.25 from Wednesday's settlement.
-By Cheang Chee Yew, Dow Jones Newswires; +65 6415 4067; cheeyew.cheang@dowjones.com
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