Nov Brent was up 16 cents at $23.74 per barrel, roughly in the middle of its $23.68-85 trading range. Oct gas oil was 50 cents higher at $191.75 per tonne.

Brent crude had hit a 33-month high of $24.30 earlier this week following OPEC's decision not to ease its supply restrictions. Some of the shine was lost as a bout of profit-taking took levels back as speculators switched out of oil into gold. The New York market had, as expected, opened higher but the Brent/NYMEX light crude oil spread narrowed slightly to around 88 cents for November. Meanwhile, the Nov Brent to gas oil crack spread narrowed slightly to $2.13 per barrel.