Oil prices were little changed today ahead of the key December 8th deadline for Iraq to detail its weapons programmes.
The United Nations is expected to vote on Monday on whether to renew the oil-for-food exchange programme, which allows Iraq to sell crude oil outside of UN embargoes in return for essential humanitarian items.
Benchmark US light crude traded down eight cents to $26.27 a barrel following yesterday's 26-cent climb in New York.
"The market appears to be girding its loins for the next milestone in the UN process . . . the market will remain headline driven, which will keep volatility high," said a daily report from NM Rothschild & Sons.
Oil prices have steadily risen this week in anticipation of possible disruptions to crude flows should war erupt in the Middle East, which pumps one-quarter of the world's crude.
