SEOUL, Feb 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures pared some
losses in early Asian trade on Tuesday, buoyed by Chinese demand
and unrest in the Middle East, which could trigger supply
disruptions of crude oil.
China's crude oil imports rose 27 percent from a year ago to
the fourth highest on record as the country's trade surplus fell
to its lowest in nine months in January.
The crude oil markets took a breather on Monday, weighed
down by a rise expected in U.S. crude inventories. Ahead of
weekly inventory reports, a Reuters poll forecast that U.S.
crude inventories rose 2.6 million barrels last week, with
expectations that crude stocks at Cushing rose to another
record.
While market concerns eased after Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak stepped down and gave power to the army last week,
protests in neighbouring Iran, Yemen and Bahrain limited the
market's relief.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for March delivery was up 0.09 cents,
or 0.11 percent, at $84.90 a barrel by 2351 GMT, after settling
down 0.9 percent at $84.81. Near Monday's close, the contract
hit a session low of $84.58, the lowest since Dec. 1, when
prices hit $83.63.
* U.S. crude's discount against Brent crude was at $14.33
<CL-LCO1=R>, after closing at $14.35.
* In London, ICE Brent April crude , the new
front month, was up 2.14 cents at $102.96 a barrel, after
settling at $103.08, the highest since Sept. 26, 2008, when
front-month Brent traded from $100.91 to $104.30 to close at
$103.54.
MARKETS NEWS
* UAE Oil Minister Mohammed al-Hamli said on Monday that
events in Egypt had helped to drive oil above $100 a barrel and
the price could not be explained by the balance of supply and
demand, adding the market was well supplied.
* Iranian security forces deployed in Tehran to prevent an
opposition rally and government backers chased down pro-reform
demonstrators in Yemen's capital, turning unrest increasingly
violent. Bahraini police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to
break up protests in villages ringing the capital Manama.
* The S&P 500 edged up, trading near its highest
since June 2008 but the index was stuck in the 1,325-1,333 area
without enough buyers to get through this technical hurdle. The
Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.04 percent to
12,268.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.28 percent
to 2,817.18.
* The euro nursed losses early in Asia on Tuesday, having
fallen to a three-week low, and may struggle to gain traction
after a meeting of European finance ministers ended with no
concrete solution to the region's fiscal problems. The euro last
traded at $1.3485 .
* London Metal Exchange (LME) copper for three-month
delivery hit a record $10,170.25 per tonne in
after-hours trade, having closed up $199 at $10,160, matching
the previous high. On New York's COMEX metals exchange,
benchmark copper traded near record highs set last week.
UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0430 Japan Dec industrial output
0630 Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting/ governor speech
1000 Euro zone flash GDP for Q4/ trade balance for Dec
1330 US retail sales for Jan/ import/export prices for Jan
1800 US Treasury Secretary testifies on budget proposals
(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>
