SEOUL, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were almost
unchanged in early Asian trade on Friday as fighting in
Libya and growing unrest in the Middle East supported concern
over oil supply.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for May delivery was down 20 cents at
$105.40 a barrel by 0023 GMT, after settling down 15 cents at
$105.60 a day earlier.
* May Brent was up 2 cents at $115.92 a barrel
versus its 17-cent higher settlement at $115.72.
* French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday Libyans
themselves must decide on the fate of leader Muammar Gaddafi. On
Thursday NATO countries agreed to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya
to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces, but fell short of
taking full command of all military operations in Libya.
* In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public
pledge to look into granting Syrians greater freedom on Thursday
as anger mounted after attacks by security forces on
protesters left at least 37 dead.
* Palestinian rockets struck deep inside Israel on Thursday
close to the urban sprawl south of Tel Aviv, and Israel pounded
targets in Gaza in a surging conflict that has raised fears of a
new war.
MARKETS NEWS
* The euro rose against the U.S. dollar on Thursday on
optimism European policymakers will be able to control a
political and debt crisis in Portugal, though technical
resistance could cap near-term upside. Against the yen, the
dollar was little changed at 80.97 yen .
* U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as optimism about
upcoming earnings and investor buying of the quarter's top
performers lifted the S&P 500 above a key technical level.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
* N/A Japan fin min news conference after cabinet meeting
* 0630 - France Q4 GDP
* 0700 - Germany import prices for Feb
* 0745 - France consumer confidence for March
* 0900 - German IFO business climate for March
* 0900 - Euro zone money M3 for Feb
* 0900 - Euro zone private loans for Feb
* 0900 - Italy retail sales for Jan
* 1230 - U.S. GDP for Q4 (final estimate)
* 1230 - U.S. corporate profits Q4
(Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
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>
