* Brent crude tops $70, WTI hits highest since April
* Iraq calls on foreign troops to leave
* Speculators raise U.S. crude oil net longs-CFTC
* OPEC December oil output slips as Nigeria, Iraq comply
more
* Trump threatens sanctions on Iraq if U.S. troops forced to
leave
* U.S. will also take action if Iran strikes back - Trump
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to settlement)
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Monday
after Brent touched above $70 a barrel on rhetoric from the
United States, Iran and Iraq that fanned tensions in the Middle
East after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian military
commander.
Prices pared gains during the session on growing doubts that
Iran would strike back in a way that would disrupt oil supplies.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled at $68.91 a barrel, up
31 cents, after soaring to a high of $70.74 a barrel from
Friday's settlement.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude was up 22 cents at
$63.27 a barrel after hitting $64.72, its highest since April.
"There seems to be an emerging dialogue along the lines that
it's not in the Iranians' interest to lash out and attack oil
infrastructure," said Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho
in New York. "Because any attack on the oil infrastructure would
most likely rally the barrel and that would, in turn, most
likely shut down Iranian exports."
Oil jumped more than 3% on Friday after a U.S. air strike in
Iraq killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani,
heightening concerns about an escalation in conflict in the
Middle East and the possible impact on oil supplies.
The region accounts for nearly half of the world's oil
production, with a fifth of global oil shipments passing through
the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to impose
sanctions on Iraq, the second-largest producer in the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), if
U.S. troops were forced to withdraw from the country.
Iraq's parliament earlier called, in a nonbinding
resolution, on U.S. and other foreign troops to leave Iraq.
Trump also said that the United States would retaliate
against Iran if Tehran were to strike back after the killing.
"I don't think we're out of the woods when it comes to
whether this problem could effect oil in a way that would be
tangible to oil traders," said Amy Jaffe, director of a program
on energy security and climate change at the Council on Foreign
Relations.
In post-settlement trade, oil turned negative after the U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released data that
showed money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures
and options positions. OPEC oil output fell in December as Nigeria and Iraq adhered
more closely to pledged reductions and top exporter Saudi Arabia
made further cuts ahead of a new production-limiting accord, a
Reuters survey found. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FACTBOX-Attacks, incidents heightening Gulf tensions since May
of Hormuz: the world's most important oil artery
Strait of Hormuz leads way among shipping routes https://tmsnrt.rs/32kdoo5
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