SINGAPORE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Oil was steady on Tuesday,
holding on to gains of more than 2 percent in the previous
session, as product markets were seen tightening with
maintenance at U.S. refineries and strike-idled plants in
France.
FUNDAMENTALS
* U.S. crude for November <CLc1> fell 7 cents to $83.01 a
barrel by 0102 GMT, while ICE Brent for December <LCOc1>
declined 21 cents to $84.16.
* U.S. inventories of distillate fuel including heating oil
and diesel probably fell 1 million barrels last week, a Reuters
poll showed before industry group the American Petroleum
Institute (API) publishes weekly supply statistics on Tuesday
at 2030 GMT.
* Analysts attributed that decline, which would be the
fourth in as many weeks, to lower production, with refineries
in seasonal maintenance, and a potential increase in demand as
distributors probably restocked.
* Gasoline inventories may have also dropped in the week to
Oct. 15 to post their fourth consecutive weekly drop, down by
1.1 million barrels according to the poll, partly as imports
from Europe slow because of walkouts at French refineries.
* France began to tap emergency fuel reserves at the start
of a second week of action by refinery and port strikers as a
growing number of petrol stations began to run dry on Monday.
[]
* Nationwide strikes over pension reforms have spread to
the country's 12 oil refineries over the past seven days,
adding to the impact of a three-week-long strike at France's
largest oil port, Fos-Lavera, over working conditions and a
port reform.
* U.S. gasoline <RBc1> and heating oil futures <HOc1>, the
distillate benchmark, also rose 2 percent on Monday as the
French strikes continued to hit fuel production in the region.
* But U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose by 1.6 million
barrels last week, their second gain in three weeks, as imports
rose with operations at the Houston Ship Channel returning to
normal. Government statistics from the Energy Information
Administration follow Tuesday's industry report on Wednesday.
* A Federal Reserve report on Monday said U.S. industrial
production fell in September, against analyst expectations it
would rise, while capacity utilization eased slightly. The
report was viewed as supportive to the expectation there will
be more monetary easing. []
MARKETS NEWS
* Financial shares led U.S. and European stock markets
higher on Monday after Citigroup reported
stronger-than-expected profits while the U.S. dollar rallied
late after Washington said it would not devalue the greenback.
[]
* Japan's Nikkei average opened almost flat on Tuesday,
with banking shares higher after Citigroup's results, but the
yen's continued strength weighed on the market. []
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday:
- 0800 Eurozone Current account Aug <EUCURU=ECI>
- 0900 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Oct <DEZEWS=ECI>
- 1145 U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly <USUBSY=ECI>
- 1200 U.S. Goldman Sachs earnings Q3 <GS>
- 1230 U.S. Build permits: change mm Sep <USBPP=ECI>
- 1230 U.S. House starts mm: change Sep <USHSTM=ECI>
- 1230 U.S. Housing starts number mm Sep
- 2000 U.S. Fed Chairman Bernanke public appearance
- 2030 U.S. API weekly oil stocks Oct 15 <USOIAC=ECI>
RELATED NEWS
* The average compliance of OPEC members with oil output
targets is 61 percent, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri
said on Monday. []
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez))
