* Japan quake shuts some refineries, nuclear plants
* Saudi Arabia protests muted by police presence
* Coming up: API oil data on Tuesday
(Updates with Brent settlement and detail throughout)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday
after a massive earthquake shook Japan, shutting refineries and
other industrial facilities in the world's third-largest oil
consumer and triggering a broader sell-off in commodities.
Muted protests in Saudi Arabia were a relief to investors
addled by plans for demonstrations in the world's top oil
exporter with markets already reacting to the battle for Libya
that has curbed production and exports.
U.S. heating oil <HOc1>, the benchmark distillate contract,
and gasoline <RBc1> futures slipped, but received support from
expectations that Japan will require more fuel imports.
Brent crude futures for April delivery <LCOc1> fell $1.59
to settle at $113.84 a barrel, after falling to $112.25, and
posted the first weekly loss in seven weeks.
Brent finished down 1.84 percent, the biggest percentage
loss since the week to Nov. 19.
U.S. crude futures for April delivery <CLc1> fell $1.54 to
settle at $101.16 a barrel, after earlier falling to $99.01.
U.S. crude posted a 3.12 percent loss for the week, its
first weekly loss in four.
Speculators' net-long positions in U.S. crude futures rose
to a record high in the week to March 8, the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission said in a report on Friday. []
The U.S. front-month heating oil crack spread <CL-HO=R>, or
refining profit margin, rose $1.06 to $26.24 a barrel at 3:58
p.m. EST (2058 GMT), while the gasoline crack spread <RB-CL=R>
rose 58 cents to $24.70.
"From an oil pricing perspective, the situation in Japan is
likely to result in a negative impact on crude oil prices and a
positive for refined products," said Dominick Chirichella,
senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York.
Japan was hit by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake, the largest
since observations began in the late 19th century.
[] []
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Factbox on Japan quake tears through commodity, energy
sectors: []
Graphics showing:
Middle East unrest http://r.reuters.com/nym77r
Libya unrest http://link.reuters.com/dew48r
Main Saudi oil region http://link.reuters.com/gew48r
FACTBOX on Libya's oil sector []
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
MIDDLE EAST PROTESTS
A security clampdown in Saudi Arabia's capital kept a lid
on a planned day of rage. []
Police in Kuwait fired tear gas to break up a demonstration
and Bahraini police blocked several thousand protesters from
reaching the royal palace as the region continued to deal with
spreading unrest. [] []
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Yemen's capital
and protests turned violent in the southern port city of Aden.
[]
Fighting continued in OPEC-member Libya. Rebels repelled a
counter-offensive by leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces, but
appealed to foreign powers to impose a no-fly zone to stop
further attacks. []
CHINA, U.S. ECONOMIC DATA
Even with the focus on Japan, the Middle East and North
Africa, brokers and analysts said oil prices felt pressure from
news that Chinese inflation topped expectations in February,
possibly triggering more monetary tightening that could dampen
oil demand in the world's No. 2 oil consumer. []
Rising gasoline prices pushed U.S. consumer sentiment to
its lowest level in five months in early March, a Thomson
Reuters/University of Michigan survey showed. []
A separate report showed that U.S. retail sales posted
their largest gain in four months in February. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Janet McGurty in New
York, Ikuko Kurahone in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in
Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
