Eurozone deal, IEA leave oil prices mixed

OIL prices were mixed on Thursday as eurozone leaders clinched a deal on resolving Greece's debt crisis and the International Energy Agency announced it would not release additional crude reserves. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light, sweet crude for delivery in September, rose 73 cents to close at $99.53 a barrel. At one point, WTI was trading above $100 -- the first time it had reached the psychologically important level since June 10. In London, Brent North Sea crude for September fell 64 cents to settle at $117.51 on the Intercontinental Exchange. The rally came as eurozone leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels were hashing out a deal to help debt-ridden countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal and prevent the European debt crisis from spreading. US and European stock markets surged and the euro topped $1.44 as details emerged about the deal, under which countries in financial distress will receive loans with lower interest rates and longer maturities. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "It's all been about what is going on in Europe," said Matt Smith, an oil analyst with Summit Energy. "We're seeing a super-strong euro. It gave the impetus behind crude to pop its head above 100 dollars." Traders have been keeping a close eye on the situation in Europe out of fear that a Greek default could trigger a continent-wide economic slowdown, cutting into global energy demand. A weaker dollar also tends to boost the price of oil. Since crude prices are denominated in dollars, a fall in the US dollar typically leads to increased oil consumption outside the United States. In a separate development on Thursday, the International Energy Agency said it was "not now seeking the release of additional" stocks of oil from strategic reserves in oil-consuming countries. Market participants had been waiting to see whether the Paris-based agency would follow up its decision to tap strategic oil stocks last month with another drawdown. On June 23, the IEA authorised an emergency drawdown of its member nations' strategic oil stockpiles to replace lost output from Libya and to give the global economy relief from soaring energy prices.