The price difference between Brent crude and its U.S. counterpart has narrowed to the closest point since the end of December, as the North Sea benchmark continues to struggle to make gains this year.

Brent crude was up 30 cents, or 0.3%, on the first day of the March contract, at $106.02 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were up 23 cents at $94.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The "spread", or price difference between the two crudes, is at $11.39 Friday. It widened to $14.68 at the end of last week, but without many supporting factors to keep the Brent contract high, the two benchmarks have drifted closer together.

Fundamentally the market is well-supplied, said Commerzbank in a note to clients.

"The focus on the oil market this year will once more be on supplies," they say. "Continuing success with shale oil production in the U.S. will again keep prices in check. Within the last three years, U.S. crude output has risen by 50%."

The ICE's gasoil contract for February delivery was up $3.25 at $910.75 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for February delivery was down 127 points at $2.6078 a gallon.
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