NYMEX October RBOB settled up 5.04 cents at $2.6114/gal, as the oil complex turned mostly higher Friday on news of a widening US-led campaign against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq.
ICE November Brent settled 69 cents higher at $98.39/b, while NYMEX October crude closed 66 cents lower at $92.41/b. NYMEX October ULSD settled up 43 points to $2.7166/gal.
"Refining margins are better in the US than Europe, but US refineries are producing less gasoline than in the summer, so you're starting to see pressure for higher prices," said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks.
The difference on Friday between the price of Brent crude and NYMEX RBOB was $7.74/b.
The latest data from the US Energy Information Administration released this week showed the largest weekly draw of gasoline stocks on the US Atlantic Coast since August 2013.
"Petroleum products are weak but it looks like that RBOB gasoline will perform better than heating oil/ultra-low sulfur diesel," Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group, said in a client note. Retail gasoline prices have hit four year lows, he said.
Traders, meanwhile, were mulling over events in the Middle East and Africa with supply implications.
France carried out its first air strike in Iraq against Islamic State, which the market viewed as bullish for oil prices, analysts said.
A week-long strike by workers at state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp over pensions is continuing, though it has yet to impact exports.
In Libya, there are no signs of the Zawiya export terminal and associated Sharara oilfield reopening, which were closed this week by the National Oil Co. due to nearby rocket attacks.
The closure has reduced Libyan crude production to around 700,000 b/d from nearly 900,000 b/d last week.
