Oil prices were little changed on Thursday, erasing earlier losses after the operator of Britain’s Forties pipeline in the North Sea said it was expected to restart in early January after repairs over Christmas. Forties is the largest of the five North Sea crudes that underpin Brent, a benchmark for oil trading in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. “Main feature in today’s trade thus far appears to be the ability of the complex to absorb in orderly fashion reports that the North Sea Forties pipeline system will be restarted,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Chicago-based energy advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a report. Brent futures were up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $64.76 a barrel by 12:32 p.m. EST (1732 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $58.33 per barrel. Despite the small […]