Oil prices hover above 71 dollars

World crude oil prices hovered above 71 dollars on Friday, amid concerns over a coming summer driving and active hurricanes seasons.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, rose 5 cents to close at 71.37 dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for July delivery fell 12 cents to close at 70.59 dollars a barrel.

New York Mercantile Exchange will close next Monday for Memorial Day, which means the start of U.S. summer driving season, when demand for gasoline peaks in the world's biggest energy- consuming nation.

The six-month Atlantic hurricane season, which starts in June and end in November, is "very active", although is unlikely to reach the records set last year, when there were 28 tropical storms, 15 of which strengthened into hurricanes, according to U.S. National Weather Service.

Traders are still concerned about the possibilities that Iran's oil exports would halt if the United Nations imposes an international sanction on Teheran for its nuclear activities.

Both the European Union and Russia stand for a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said on Thursday.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell over the past week but gasoline reserves increased, the Energy Department reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

Source: Xinhua