Brent Steady, US Crude up on Supportive Economic Data

Brent crude futures ended flat on Friday as improving supply and concerns about tepid demand for oil in Europe and China offset concerns about the Middle East conflicts, while U.S. crude rose on supportive economic data from the United States.

Brent's premium to U.S. crude fell to $3.54 based on settlements and the spread narrowed to $3.21 intraday, its narrowest since it hit $2.91 on Sept. 20, 2013.

Slowing economic activity in Europe and Asia has dampened demand for oil, while supply is on the rise.

Libya's output has reached 925,000 barrels per day (bpd), the highest since militias turned on each other after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

"At the moment, supplies are abundant and demand is weaker," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at London-based VTB Capital.

U.S. crude was lifted by data showing the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 2-1/2 years in the second quarter.

The report raised the estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) to show the economy expanded at a 4.6 percent annual rate, in line with Wall Street's expectations.

Brent for November delivery settled unchanged at $97 a barrel, having swung from $96.46 to $97.50.

U.S. November crude rose $1.01 to settle at $93.54 a barrel.

U.S. October RBOB gasoline futures fell 5.61 cents to settle at $2.6619 a gallon, after jumping more than five cents on Thursday.

Both crude contracts remained on pace for a third straight monthly loss. Brent's looming 6 percent monthly drop would be its biggest monthly drop since April 2013.

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Sept. 23, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

"The GDP report was certainly supportive for U.S. crude and the view that demand in the United States will remain strong," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

"Brent is being buffeted by the supply dynamic and mixed messages from OPEC on output control," Kilduff added.

U.S. consumer sentiment finished September at its strongest in more than a year on growing optimism about the economy and on future income, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final September reading showed.

Iran urged OPEC members to make joint efforts to keep oil prices from falling further, highlighting a split with other members such as Saudi Arabia who face less budget pressure even with the slide in crude prices.

OPEC's Nov. 27 meeting will likely see a debate on whether its current production target of 30 million bpd is appropriate for 2015. OPEC and other forecasters expect a further drop in global demand for OPEC crude.

Caution about conflict in the Middle East is expected to continue to limit any move lower by crude prices ahead of the weekend.

Air and missile strikes have hit oilfields in eastern Syria in an apparent attack by U.S.-led forces against Islamic State militants, a monitoring group said.

(By Robert Gibbons; Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London and Li Peng Seng and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)