Crude oil prices were steady on Friday as traders weighed Middle East turmoil against concerns about economic growth.
Light sweet crude for September delivery rose US$0.16 to settle at US$74.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The energy futures all look like they've entered a period of consolidation or book squaring ahead of the weekend," Citigroup oil analyst Timothy Evans wrote.
But gasoline futures rose by more than US$0.04 to settle at US$2.2894 a gallon (3.8 liters), reflecting concerns about refinery outages in Louisiana and Illinois.
September Brent on London's ICE Futures exchange rose US$0.03 to settle at US$73.75 per barrel.
Israel massed tanks and troops on the Lebanese border on Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.
The oil market is fearful the fighting could spread throughout the region and threaten supplies.
But recent Energy Department data, as well as comments by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, served as a moderating influence on the market.
The federal agency released data on Wednesday that showed supplies of gasoline on the rise as refiners cranked up their output, and some market observers are nervous that retail gasoline prices near US$3 a gallon could begin to cut into demand.
Bernanke said on Thursday "the increase in energy prices is clearly making the economy worse off both in terms of real activity and in terms of inflation."
If oil prices were to rise another US$10 or US$15 a barrel, there would be "significant consequences" for the economy, he added.
The sudden eruption of fighting between Israel and militants in Lebanon last week lifted crude futures to a record US$78.40 last Friday, on fears that the fighting would escalate into a regional war and disrupt supplies.
While oil prices have receded from recent highs after data showed that US petroleum inventories grew across the board last week, worries about the Middle East crisis linger.
"It is difficult to construct an argument for lower prices as long as the situation in the Middle East persists. It still has the potential to mutate into an uglier and uglier state of affairs with each passing day," Fimat USA broker Mike Fitzpatrick wrote in a research note.
In other Nymex trading, natural gas futures rose US$0.048 to settle at US$6.139 while heating oil futures climbed US$0.024 to US$1.9580 a gallon.
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