The price of oil retreated to near $102 per barrel on Wednesday amid a new push for a cease-fire between Israel and Palestine and after Europe imposed additional sanctions on Russia that fell short of a heavy hit. U.S. benchmark oil for September delivery was down 34 cents to $102.07 a barrel at 0850 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slipped 47 cents to $102.39 on Tuesday. Brent crude for September delivery, a benchmark for international oils, was up 9 cents to $107.43 on the ICE exchange in London. The price of oil has been kept high after a civilian jetliner was last week shot out of the sky over part of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists and as Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip added to risks of instability in the Middle East. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry […]