SEOUL, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were hardly
changed in early Asian trade on Wednesday as concerns over
fighting in oil producer Libya and unrest in Yemen were weighed
against expectations official U.S. figures would show crude oil
stocks rose last week.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for May delivery was broadly steady at
$104.97 a barrel by 0031 GMT, after the April contract
settled at $104 a barrel on Tuesday in light volume on the day
the contract expired.
* Brent crude for May rose 29 cents at $115.99 a
barrel after settling at $115.70 a barrel.
* Crude stockpiles gained 1.6 million barrels in the week to
March 18 on average, following seasonal tendencies, an expanded
Reuters poll of analysts ahead of weekly inventory reports
showed on Tuesday.
* In a report late on Tuesday, the American Petroleum
Institute reported that U.S. crude inventories rose less than
expected last week and gasoline stocks posted a huge draw,
despite a jump in both crude and product imports and a small
increase in refinery run rates.
* Western nations waging an air campaign in Libya agreed on
Tuesday to use NATO to drive the military effort but lack the
backing of all alliance members and are divided on the mission's
leadership.
* Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacked two west Libyan towns,
killing dozens, while rebels were pinned down in the east.
* Thousands of Yemeni protesters took to the streets on
Tuesday, clamoring for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step
down. Several top officials have already abandoned Saleh, who
warned that his country would descend into civil war if he were
forced to quit.
MARKETS NEWS
* Wall Street snapped a three-day winning streak on Tuesday,
even as investors adjusted to the insecurity created by events
in Japan, the Middle East and North Africa. Volume was the
lowest of the year, with 6.52 billion shares traded on the New
York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
* The euro eased back after hitting a 4-1/2-month high
against the dollar on Tuesday but expectations of a euro zone
interest rate hike next month could limit any downside for the
single currency.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
* Reserve Bank of Australia Financial Stability review
* Japan Gov't releases monthly Economic Report for March
* BoE to publish minutes of March 9-10 MPC meeting
* British Finance Minister presents his budget in Parliament
* 1330 German Chancellor speech
* 1430 EIA issues weekly petroleum stocks and output data
(Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Jo
Winterbottom)
RECENT CRUDE OIL TRADES
Asia... Europe... Americas...
CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tenders in Asia........................
Crude oil supply outages in Asia............
Refinery outages in Asia....................
Global arbitrage news and flows.................
W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly........
REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES
Asia... Middle East... Europe...
NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA
Japan..............
China..............
India..............
S.Korea............
Indonesia.......
CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA
Japan... US... Europe...
CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS
OPEC output survey... New Asian fields.
New projects......
CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS
Middle East........... Asia-Pacific........
West Africa......... North Sea............
Asia outlook....... Europe outlook.....
Global futures report... Technicals report......
PRICES
For all Official Selling Prices......................
For a POLL on oil prices............................
NYMEX and ICE oil futures...........................
TOCOM crude oil futures.............................<0#JCO:>
Dubai, Oman swaps and spread...............
Middle East physical crude diffs...............
Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps..........
Asia-Pacific physical crude....................
All Asian crude oil differentials................<0#C-DIF-A>
All Asian crude oil outright prices..................<0#C-A>
