By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Monday as concern eased that fighting in the Middle East would disrupt supply and Chinese data suggested weak demand, while an increase in U.S. refining limited any selling.
Brent futures for May delivery settled at $82.21 a barrel, gaining 13 cents. The U.S. crude April contract slipped 8 cents to end at $77.93 a barrel.
“I guess it’s: the barrel half empty or the barrel half full, depending on how you look at it,” said Phil Flynn, pointing to conflicting forces keeping oil prices from moving far in either direction.
Both benchmarks ended last week lower after bearish Chinese data implied weaker demand in the world’s leading crude importer. Brent closed down 1.8%, although the contract has remained above $80 a barrel for over a month. WTI ended 2.5% lower.
China’s crude oil imports rose in the first two months of the year compared with the same period of 2023, but…
