* US crude oil stocks forecast higher: EIA data at 1530 GM
* Volume relatively thin as end-Q1 nears
* Gaddafi forces move east in Libya
* U.S. ADP employment data (1215 GMT)
(Updates throughout, previous SINGAPORE)
By Ikuko Kurahone
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Wednesday, weighed
by swelling crude inventories in the United States, but the drop
was capped by civil unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.
North Sea Brent crude futures <LCOc1> fell 44 cents to
$114.72 a barrel at 1000 GMT.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 54 cents to $104.25.
The amount of oil traded on both contracts were relatively
small with the end of the first quarter near.
Prices have risen from $93 at the end of December, striking
2-1/2 highs just below $120 in February.
Christopher Bellew with Bache Commodities cited bulging
crude oil stocks in the United States and a dip in fuel demand
between the winter heating season and the summer gasoline season
as a factor capping any gains in oil prices.
"In the short term we are at the end of the Northern
Hemisphere winter with a seasonal fall in demand," Bellew said.
"The dichotomy is between the world being well supplied with
oil in the short term and the uncertainties that loom in the
medium term."
In the medium term, prices are likely to be supported by
civil unrest in the oil-rich Arab world and an expected increase
in oil and gas demand following a global backlash against
nuclear power generation as nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan,
continue to emit radioactivity after severe damage caused by an
earthquake and tsunami earlier in March.
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Graphic - US consumer confidence:http://r.reuters.com/nan78r
More on Middle East unrest: [] []
Libya Graphics http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
Interactive graphic http://link.reuters.com/puk87r
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U.S. INVENTORIES JUMP
The U.S. government oil data is expected to show a 1.8
million barrel increase in the week to March 25 when it is
released at 1430 GMT, a Reuters poll of analysts showed. []
Late on Tuesday, separate data from industry group the
American Petroleum Institute showed crude stocks rose by a sharp
5.7 million barrels last week. []
In Libya, rebels pulled out of the oil town of Ras Lanuf on
Wednesday under heavy bombardment from Muammar Gaddafi's forces,
showing up their weakness without Western air strikes to tip the
scales in their favour. []
A conference of 40 governments and international bodies on
Tuesday agreed to press on with a NATO-led aerial bombardment of
Libyan forces until Gaddafi complied with a U.N. resolution to
end violence against civilians. []
In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad will on Wednesday give
his first public speech since pro-democracy protests erupted in
the south of the country. []
Analysts said U.S. ADP employment data at 1215 GMT Wednesday
was also on oil traders' watch list following Tuesday's gloomy
reading of U.S. consumer confidence in March due partly to high
fuel costs. []
(Additionl reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by James Jukwey)
