Crude prices flat amid lackluster US data

Crude prices were little changed Friday amid lackluster U.S. economic data.
Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan's final reading on the U.S. consumer confidence index for June registered 82.5, up from the preliminary reading of 81.2, also beating market consensus of 81.9.
Data showed the United States has ample supplies of crude. U.S. crude inventories fell 1.7 million barrels to 388.1 million in the week ended June 20, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for New York futures, rose 416,000 barrels to 21.8 million.
Traders continue to keep a close watch on Iraq. Iraq is the second biggest oil exporter in the OPEC after Saudi Arabia, exporting about 2.5 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Reports said Iraqi forces still held the Baiji refinery, the nation's largest, after several attacks by the militants.
Despite the escalating violence, tensions in the market are fading on signs that crude production from the southern Iraq has not been disrupted. Southern Iraq produce more than three-quarters of Iraq's oil output.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery edged down 10 cents to settle at 105.74 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery gained 9 cents to close at 113.3 dollars a barrel.