* Euro at 1-year low versus dollar, helps pressure oil
* U.S. oil inventories expected to have risen last week
* Coming up: API inventory data at 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday
NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell sharply Tuesday
on the euro's tumble against the dollar amid concerns about Greece's fiscal
problems spreading and expectations that inventory reports will show rising
U.S. stockpiles.
Market sources also pointed to easing concerns about the leaking oil in
the Gulf of Mexico disrupting production and tanker traffic in the region.
"Crude and products futures are considerably lower this morning on
heavy overnight volume as the euro fell to a new low for the year," Addison
Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a
note.
The euro tumbled to a one-year low beneath $1.31, hit by fear that
emergency aid for Greece may not prevent debt crises in other euro zone
countries. []
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port operations were normal on Tuesday and
expected to continue despite the oil spill offshore, a port spokeswoman
said. []
The U.S. Coast Guard reported no shipping disruptions and no additional
offshore platforms shut other than the previously reported three natural
gas platforms. []
U.S. stocks, pressured early by Greece's debt problems, remained
broadly lower after data showed new orders received by factories rose
unexpectedly and pending home sales rose to a five-month high in March.
[]
RBOB gasoline futures also fell sharply, with Jim Ritterbusch,
president at Ritterbusch & Associates, pointing to "what appears to be
profit-taking from the funds."
PRICES
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:51 a.m. EDT (1451 GMT),
June crude <CLM0> was down $2.77, or 3.21 percent, at $83.42 a barrel,
trading from $83.20 to $86.24.
* Monday's high trade of $87.15 eclipsed the previous 2010 peak of
$87.09 struck on April 6 and was the highest front-month crude price since
$89.82 traded on Oct. 9, 2008.
* In London on the Intercontinental Exchange, June Brent crude <LCOM0>
fell $2.29, or 2.57 percent, to $86.65 a barrel, trading from $86.54 to
$89.05.
* NYMEX June RBOB <RBM0> fell 6.96 cents, or 2.86 percent, to $2.3655 a
gallon, trading from $2.3578 to $2.43415
* NYMEX June heating oil <HOM0> fell 4.98 cents, or 2.12 percent, to
$2.2953 a gallon, trading from $2.2906 to $2.3491.
* The June/June heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $13.01 a
barrel. The spread ended Monday at $12.30. The June/June RBOB crack spread
<0#RB-CL=R> was at $15.91. The spread ended Monday at $16.08.
* The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward
crude contract <CLc61> was at $13.59, based on the June 2015 contract
Monday settlement at $97.01. The spread ended Monday at $10.82.
TECHNICALS
NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $84.52/$84.46
Technical support/resistance:
NYMEX crude: $84.50/$87.10
NYMEX heating oil: $2.25/$2.35
NYMEX RBOB: $2.33/$2.44
For a full report on technicals, click on []
MARKET NEWS
* A minor explosion in an oil heater in the Neutral Zone Kuwait shares
with Saudi Arabia seriously injured a worker but did not impact operations,
an official said. []
* BP Plc <BP.L> said a small fire at its Rotterdam refinery had been
extinguished within minutes with no impact on production. []
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)
