Oil prices eased in Asian trade today as traders booked profits after strong gains last week on positive US economic data and the tensions in Ukraine.

New York’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery eased 24 cents to $101.43 a barrel in late morning trade and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery dipped 22 cents to $107.85.

Tan Chee Tat, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said: “We are seeing some easing because of some profit-taking.”

WTI prices got a boost last week from data showing robust US consumer spending.

Orders for US durable goods — a key indicator of the economy — rose 2.2 per cent in February from the prior month, beating expectations for a 1.0-per cent decline.

Ukraine crisis

Investors are also tracking events in Europe as the top diplomats from the US and Russia held talks to find a solution to the crisis in Ukraine.

Russian troops are massed on the borders of eastern Ukraine, sparking fears about Moscow’s plans after it took control of the Crimean peninsula this month.

While the two failed to reach a breakthrough deal in Paris yesterday, they did agree to keep talking after what were described as “frank” and “constructive” negotiations.

The latest bid to resolve the worst East-West standoff in the post-Cold War era came after Russian leader Vladimir Putin unexpectedly called US President Barack Obama yesterday.

Russia provides about a quarter of Europe’s natural gas supplies, with about 80 per cent of those exports travelling through pipelines in Ukraine, analysts say.

Traders fear that an escalation of the crisis would disrupt those supplies.

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