Oil prices strengthened for the fourth straight day on Friday amid nagging concerns over supply from Nigeria and Iran, and as players eyed Opec ahead of the cartel's meeting next week.
US light crude for April delivery settled up 31 cents to $63.67 a barrel, after rallying more than 4 percent in the last four sessions. European benchmark Brent crude rose 11 cents to $64.18 a barrel.
Fears of more violent attacks against Nigeria's oil industry, which have already shut a fifth of the country's oil exports, and international tension over Iran's nuclear plan helped push up prices.
Last-ditch talks between the European Union's top powers and Iran ahead of a UN atomic watchdog meeting ended on Friday without an agreement, ministers said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors will convene on Monday to study a report saying essentially that Iran has ignored a February 4 call to again suspend enrichment work.
"The geopolitical situation with Iran and the meeting on Monday ... is weighing heavily on the market," said Andrew Harrington, resources analyst at ANZ bank in Sydney.
"There is going to be a lot of volatility." Referring the issue to the UN Security Council moves Iran a step closer to possible sanctions, which oil traders fear could prompt the world's fourth-largest oil exporter to cut supplies.
The IAEA meeting comes two days before a gathering of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is widely expected to continue pumping oil near full tilt in the current strong market, although price hawk Venezuela has lobbied for a cut.
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