LONDON, June 20: Oil prices recovered slightly from their recent falls on Friday as traders covered positions ahead of the weekend in quiet market conditions.

In London, the price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for August delivery rose 31 cents to $26.60 a barrel.

New York’s benchmark light sweet crude contract for July delivery was up 24 cents to $30.20 a barrel in out-of-hours electronic deals.

“There is no real news in the market, volumes are very thin,” said GNI-Mann Financial trader Kevin Blemkin.

“We’ve seen the market trade lower this week, so what we are seeing now is just a technical correction ahead of the weekend.”

Prices had fallen on higher-than-expected US crude inventories, announced on Wednesday, as well as news that Iraq is about to resume oil exports for the first time since the war to remove Saddam Hussein.

Exports would begin on Sunday, with Iraqi crude shipped from the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea, Iraqi oil officials said.

The Opec has expressed concern that the return of Iraqi oil could prompt a global oil glut, and has threatened to cut production quotas to compensate.

However the desperate state of the country’s oil infrastructure means large-scale exports are unlikely to begin for some months.—AFP