* OPEC seen keeping output targets steady at Wed talks
* Coming up: Fed benchmark rate decision at 2:15 p.m. EDT
* Coming up: American Petroleum Institute 4:30 p.m. EDT
(Updates prices, market activity, changes dateline from
previous LONDON)
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 2 percent
to near $82 a barrel on Tuesday as the dollar weakened and the
market awaited OPEC's meeting and expected monetary policy
moves from the world's top two oil consumers, the United States
and China.
The dollar fell against the euro and a basket of currencies
on Tuesday on expectations the Federal Reserve would repeat a
pledge to keep interest rates very low for a long time,
encouraging investors to buy riskier assets at the expense of
the greenback. []
A dip in the dollar makes it cheaper for non-dollar
buyers.
U.S. crude prices for April <CLc1> rose $2.01 to $81.81 a
barrel by 11:07 EDT (1507 GMT). ICE Brent futures <LC0c1> rose
$1.74 to $79.63 a barrel.
The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, which
will announce its decision at about 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT),
is widely expected to hold benchmark U.S. rates near zero and
repeat that conditions warrant keeping them "exceptionally low"
for an "extended period." [] Ultra-loose monetary
policy also tends to be supportive as it spurs investment flows
into oil.
Oil prices slid nearly 2 percent on Monday, falling below
$80 a barrel for the first time since March 4 on fears that a
16-month high in consumer inflation in China might lead to
further tightening as early as this week.
China has already tightened reserve requirements twice this
year, with each move hitting commodity markets worried about
demand growth.
SUPPLY OUTLOOK
OPEC is expected to keep output unchanged in its Wednesday
meeting in Vienna, with Saudi Arabia's oil minister saying the
producers' group may not need to adjust output policy this year
if the oil market remains stable. []
"The market is in balance, the price is great, inventories
are coming down so why should we do anything?" Ali al-Naimi
said on Monday, echoing comments from OPEC members Iran and
Qatar.
The oil market is getting tighter, Saudi Oil Minister Ali
al-Naimi said on Tuesday and this also helped lift sentiment
during the day. []
"We have been sailing very well and will continue to sail
very well," Naimi, minister for the world's top oil producer
told reporters a day ahead of the Vienna meeting on Wednesday.
A report from the American Petroleum Institute due at 4:30
p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday will provide an update on U.S.
inventories and is expected to show that crude stocks rose for
the seventh straight session last week.
The average forecast showed a 900,000-barrel increase in
crude supplies, according to a preliminary Reuters poll of
analysts. []
The threat of future attacks on the oil industry in Nigeria
may be supporting oil after militants detonated two car bombs
outside a government building on Monday. []
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons and Matthew Robinson in New York;
Emma Farge in London and Michael Urquhart in Singapore; Editing
by Lisa Shumaker)
