US oil prices edged lower this evening as a stronger dollar and mixed economic data pulled crude back from earlier gains that followed robust economic data from China.
But in London, Brent crude futures remained up sharply ahead of the expiration later of the May contract.
US crude was down 26 cents at $85.58 a barrel, while Brent crude for May rose $1.06 to $87.21 a barrel.
Brent is trading at a premium to US crude for a fourth consecutive day due partly to the approaching Brent contract expiration and rising stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for US crude.
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Wednesday, ending a five-day losing streak after U.S. government data showed a surprise 2.2 million-barrel drop in US crude stocks. But the report also showed a larger than expected 1.1 million barrel rise in distillate stocks including diesel, raising questions about the pace of the US exit from recession.
