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Summary Oil prices hold steady after early rally as Germany's top court approved eurozone's bailout fund.
Oil prices paused on Wednesday, having earlier rallied after Germanys top court approved the eurozones bailout fund and fiscal pact.In late afternoon deals, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October advanced by 35 cents to $115.75 per barrel.New Yorks main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for delivery in October retreated eight cents to $97.09 a barrel.In earlier trade, Brent crude had surged as high as $116.67 -- touching the highest point since May 3 -- and WTI soared to $98.06, reaching a level last witnessed on August 23.Both contracts subsequently pulled back from these levels and then fell sharply following the release of US crude oil inventories, said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading group GFT.The US governments Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday that American crude stockpiles rose by two million barrels in the week ending September 7.That confounded market expectations for a drop of 2.2 million barrels, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, and indicated weaker-than-expected demand in the worlds biggest oil-consuming nation.Razaqzada cautioned that the demand outlook was unclear, with traders also on edge over simmering geopolitical tensions.The outlook for global demand looks uncertain as the economies of the US, China and the eurozone continue to slow, added Razaqzada.However, oil is being supported by geopolitical tensions which rose again following news of a public spat between Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House administration, and attacks on US embassies in Egypt and Libya.The oil market had fizzed higher in earlier deals after Germanys top court approved a new European firewall for ratification, with some minor conditions, easing fears over the long-running eurozone debt crisis.In a separate development, the International Energy Agency said oil demand growth was forecast to grow at a steady rate of just 0.8 million barrels per day in 2012 and 2013.However, the IEA added that the strains of weak global economic growth and high prices were fuelling increased energy efficiency and would cap demand growth.
