US crude dips, profit-taking ahead holiday weekend

NEW YORK Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower in volatile trading on Friday in a bout of profit-taking and position-squaring ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.

Persistent worries that the unrest in Middle East and North Africa could disrupt oil supplies from those regions kept investors cautious and that helped limit the day's losses.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery CLH1 settled at $86.20 a barrel, down 16 cents, or 0.19 percent, after trading from $85.65 to $87.88.

For the week, front-month crude rose 62 cents or 0.72 percent.

(Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1829741220110218)