Oil prices slip

LONDON. — Oil prices slipped yesterday, backing off from earlier gains spurred by tension around northern Iraq following the Kurdistan region’s vote in favor of independence.

Crude has risen sharply in the last two-and-ahalf weeks, in anticipation of renewed demand from U.S. refiners in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and expectations for ongoing efforts by major world producers to limit supply.

However, both benchmarks are near overbought levels, based on an index of relative strength, which measures the speed and magnitude of price movements. U.S. crude has gained 9 percent in the last 14 trading days, while Brent is up 7 percent in that time period.

“We’ve made a really impressive run here and I do think we’re due for a pullback,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

US crude CLc1 fell 26 cents to $51,88 a barrel by 11:34 a.m. ET (1534 GMT) after reaching a fivemonth intraday high of $52,86. Brent LCOc1 was down 13 cents at $57,76 a barrel, after hitting a more than two-year high of $59,49 on Tuesday after Monday’s referendum vote prompted Turkey to threaten to close the region’s oil pipeline.

“Kurdistan and northern Iraq now export 500 000-550 000 barrels per day (bpd). That would be a big loss to the market,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

Iraqi Kurdistan voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence, prompting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to say he could use force to prevent the formation of an independent Kurdish state and might close the oil “tap”.