Crude oil prices had edged higher tonight on news that US troops had moved into a demilitarised strip along the Kuwaiti border with Iraq. Benchmark Brent crude moved higher towards the close in volatile London trade. May-dated Brent crude futures were up 28 cents at USD27.53, compared with USD27.70 in morning trade. In New York, reference light sweet crude contracts for April settlement lost 77 cents, however, to USD30.90 a barrel.
"Brent is all over the place, and trading is very volatile," said trader Keith Pascal at brokerage GNI. "We've seen a range of 27.05 to 28.00 usd and people are obviously very tense ahead of developments in Iraq," he said. Several hundred US army vehicles assembled on the frontier a day after about 1,000 Marine tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks were seen on the move. //www.fxcentre.com