SEOUL, Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures recovered
slightly in early Asian trade on Wednesday after the American
Petroleum Institute (API) said U.S. crude stocks fell
unexpectedly last
week as imports dropped.
Concerns over possible supply disruption also buoyed the
markets as unrest in the Middle East continued in Bahrain,
Iran and Yemen.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for March delivery was up 0.23 cents,
or
0.27 percent, at $84.55 a barrel by 2338 GMT. It settled down
0.58 percent on Tuesday at $84.32 a barrel, the lowest close
since Nov. 30, 2010, when front-month crude closed at $84.11.
* U.S. crude's discount against Brent crude was at $14.09
<CL-LCO1=R>, widening the spread after closing at $14.07.
* ICE Brent April crude was down 1.44 cents, or 1.40
percent, at $101.83 a barrel against its close at $101.64.
MARKETS NEWS
* U.S. crude stocks fell by 354,000 barrels last week
against
a Reuters' poll of analysts that forecast a 2.2 million barrel
rise,
the American Petroleum Institute (API) said late on Tuesday.
Gasoline stocks rose 1.2 million barrels, broadly in line with
analysts' expectations.
* U.S. gasoline demand fell 3 percent in the week to Feb.
11,
to 8.46 million barrels per day, the MasterCard Advisors'
SpendingPulse report showed.
* Chinese inflation was lower than forecast at 4.9 percent
in
the year to January, but price pressures continued to build and
will force the central bank to stick to its course of gradual
monetary tightening.
* Shi'ite protesters prepared to camp out in Bahrain's
capital on Tuesday after a day of protests in which a man was
shot dead in clashes with police at a funeral for a demonstrator
shot the day before.
* Iranian lawmakers called for the death penalty for
opposition leaders they accused of fomenting unrest.
* Hundreds of anti-government protesters and government
loyalists fought with rocks and batons in Sanaa, the Yemeni
capital, in political unrest fueled by the Egyptian uprising.
* North Sea oil output will fall by 8.6 percent in March
from
a year earlier, illustrating the gradual drop in supply from the
home of the Brent benchmark used to value two-thirds of the
world's oil.
* The U.S. stock market slipped off a 2-1/2-year high on
Tuesday
after data showed January retail sales had risen less than
expected.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.32 percent to
1,328.01. The Dow Jones industrial average lost
0.34 percent to 12,226.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index
slipped 0.46 percent at 2,804.35.
* The U.S. dollar climbed against the yen to its
highest in eight weeks on Tuesday, boosted by the recent rise in
U.S. Treasury yields, with more gains seen likely if bond
markets
continue to factor in inflation. The euro was last little
changed against the dollar at $1.3488.
* Copper unravelled from a record high, posting its biggest
one-day slide in three weeks, as rising inflation in China
affected the short-term demand view and raised the possibility
of
more monetary tightening.
UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0001 UK nationwide consumer confidence for Jan
0500 Bank of Japan releases monthly economic report
1030 Bank of England quarterly inflation report
1200 Weekly U.S. mortgage market index
1330 U.S. PPI/CORE PPI for Jan
1530 EIA issues U.S. weekly petroleum stocks and output data
(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>
