SINGAPORE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Oil steadied near $91 on
Wednesday ahead of U.S. inventory data that is expected to show
domestic crude stocks rose last week, while the unrest in Egypt
continued to support sentiment.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for March rose nine cents to $90.86 a
barrel by 0052 GMT, after falling more than $1 the previous
session.
* ICE Brent crude climbed to a fresh 28-month peak
above $102.08, before settling at $101.74 on Tuesday.
* The U.S. price slide left the benchmark West Texas
Intermediate's discount to Brent <CL-LCO1=R> at more than $10 a
barrel. It reached a near record above $12 last week.
* Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak declared on Tuesday he
would surrender power in September, offering a mixture of
concessions and defiance to Egyptians who marched a million
strong to demand his 30-year-rule end immediately.
* Cargo operations at Egypt's Alexandria and Damietta ports
have come to a virtual standstill as widespread unrest keeps key
staff from work and throws the economy into turmoil, shipping
sources said.
Egypt's two major oil transit points, the Suez canal and the
SUMED pipeline, that brings oil from the Red Sea to the
Mediterranean, have not been affected by the protests, but there
were major disruptions at Alexandria and Damietta ports.
* King Abdullah of Jordan, a close U.S. ally, replaced his
prime minister on Tuesday following protests inspired by mass
demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but the Islamist opposition
dismissed the move as insufficient.
* The International Energy Agency said the oil market does
not face any emergency, but called on OPEC to remain "flexible"
in the event unrest affects supply.
* U.S. crude oil stocks rose 3.8 million barrels last week,
more than forecast, according to the industry group American
Petroleum Institute. Gasoline inventories rose 3.9 million
barrels, while distillate stocks fell 1.1 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will report its
own crude inventory figures on Wednesday at 1530 GMT.
MARKET NEWS
* A colossal winter storm stretching from New Mexico to
Maine hit the heartland of the United States with snow, high
winds and freezing rain on Tuesday, and experts said the worst
was still to come.
* The dollar was stuck near its lowest level in nearly three
months on Wednesday as a string of robust economic data and
easing concerns over Egypt took the steam out of safe-haven
buying in the currency.
* Costs to manufacturers are rising around the world, data
showed on Tuesday, the latest evidence of growing inflation
pressure from commodity prices as the global recovery gathers
speed.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0300 Japan PAJ weekly oil inventory data Jan 29
1100 Brazil Industrial output yy Dec 2010
1530 U.S. EIA petroleum stocks Weekly
(Reporting by Randy Fabi; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
