* Rebels clash with Gaddafi forces in key oil city
* U.S. payrolls rise more than expected in February
* Coming up: CFTC positions data, 3:30 p.m. EST Friday
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity to settlement)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - Brent oil prices pushed back
above $116 a barrel and U.S. oil hit its highest since
September 2008 on Friday, as fighting in Libya intensified and
threatened the country's oil sector.
Investors feared extended supply disruptions as rebels
fought Libyan security forces in Ras Lanuf, a major oil
terminal, and as fighting broke out in Bahrain and Yemen and
top-exporter Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Shi'ites staged protests
on Thursday. [] []
Brent crude futures for April delivery <LCOc1> rose $1.18
to settle at $115.97 a barrel, having reached a high of
$116.49.
U.S. crude for April delivery <CLc1> rose $2.51 to settle
at $104.42 a barrel, highest close since September 2008.
As of 3:42 p.m. EST (2030 GMT), Friday's peak of $104.94,
reached in post-settlement trading was the highest intraday
price since front-month crude hit $106.91 on Sept. 29, 2008.
"Tension in the Middle East is like a runaway train," said
Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets in London. "Once it
starts, it's very difficult to stop. And if there is a danger
that it impacts the supply chain, people will understandably
get nervous."
Brent's premium to its U.S. counterpart <CL-LCO1=R> fell
$1.33 to $11.55 a barrel, based on settlement prices,
continuing to retreat from last week's record $16.91.
Positive U.S. employment data helped crude futures in the
United States extend gains and reduce its dicsount to Brent.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose more than forecast in February,
hitting a nine-month high, and the jobless rate slipped to a
nearly two-year low of 8.9 percent. []
"U.S. crude gains appear more inspired by this week's
favorable economic guidance.... On the Brent side, curtailed
refinery activity and the addition of more Saudi cargoes aimed
toward Europe have appeared to take some steam out of the Brent
rally," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates
in Galena, Illinois, said in a note.
LIBYA CLASHES INTENSIFY
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces battled rebels on
several fronts as the country's crisis worsened and unrest
erupted in the capital. []
Rebels drove Gaddafi's forces from Ras Lanuf and have taken
the eastern oil town, two rebel soldiers told Reuters by
telephone. []
Al Jazeera television reported that an oil facility at
Zueitina, south of Benghazi was damaged and on fire.
[]
Estimates of how much Libyan oil output is shut have
varied, with 1 million barrels per day (bpd) the latest
assessment from the International Energy Agency, moving its
estimate to the higher end of the 850,000-1 million-bpd bracket
it gave on Wednesday. []
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Reuters Insider show on Libyan oil company head interview:
http://link.reuters.com/jys38r
Graphics showing:
Middle East unrest http://r.reuters.com/nym77r
Oil price shocks http://r.reuters.com/qes28r
Countries most reliant on oil http://r.reuters.com/dux28r
Brent and WTI open interest http://bit.ly/iemiLr
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
MIDDLE EAST UNREST
Demonstrations swelled into hundreds of thousands in oil
producer Yemen, neighbor to Saudi Arabia, where President Ali
Abdullah Saleh rejected an opposition plan for him to transfer
power this year. []
Fighting between Sunni and majority Shi'ite Muslims in
central Bahrain injured several people overnight in the first
sectarian violence since protests erupted in the Sunni-ruled
kingdom two weeks ago. []
Hundreds of Omanis demanding jobs and political reforms
demonstrated across the Gulf Arab sultanate, a small oil
producer. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Claire
Milhench in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by
David Gregorio)
