Oil prices little changed as Ukraine worries fade

Oil prices were little changed Thursday as worries of Ukraine continued to fade. Market worries eased on hopes of a diplomatic effort to cool the crisis in Ukraine as leaders of the 28-nation European Union met in Brussels on Thursday. U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.43 million barrels to 363.8 million last week, said the Energy Information Administration, higher than the market consensus of a 1.3-million-barrel increase. U.S. economic data came in mixed. In the week ending March 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 323, 000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 349,000, the Labor Department said. Economists had forecast the claims drop to 338,000. A separate report from the Labor Department showed nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 1.8-percent annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2013. Moreover, the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured goods in January decreased 0.7 percent, more than expected. Excluding volatile sector transportation, new orders increased 0.2 percent. Light, sweet crude for April delivery edged up 11 cents to settle at 101.56 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery gained 34 cents to close at 108.1 dollars a barrel.