Brent falls on Eurozone debt woes, high dollar

Brent crude fell on Friday on concerns that demand for oil will be hurt by Europe's spreading debt crisis that also weakened the euro against the dollar. US oil prices rose after a choppy, holiday-shortened session that saw low-volume trading. A higher open for equities on Wall Street provided a lift for oil, but US stocks faded and finished lower a seventh straight session. Both Brent and US crude posted their second consecutive weekly losses. The euro fell to more than seven-week lows against the dollar intraday, as disagreement on how to tackle the debt crisis drove borrowing costs to new euro-era highs and energy investors worried the problems will curb oil demand. Article continues below Fuelling investor uncertainty was the disagreement among policymakers over how to resolve the crisis, with Germany opposed to joint Eurozone bonds and a bigger role for the European Central Bank. "There are talks and talks, but nothing happens," said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. US oil rallied and Brent pared losses due to Wall Street's higher open on bargain hunting and hopes that the holiday shopping season was off to a strong start. Stocks later closed lower for the seventh straight session as the uncertainty about Europe's crisis weighed. ICE Brent January crude fell $1.38 to settle at $106.40 a barrel, after dipping under front-month Brent's 300-day moving average of $105.98. Brent posted a 1 per cent loss for the week.