UPDATE 9-Oil rises on technicals, Libya uncertainy, Mideast

                                
 * Gaddafi forces reverse some rebel advances
                                
 * API says crude stocks rose, gasoline fell last week
                                
 * Coming up: EIA oil data, 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday
                                
(Updates with API data and additional detail)
                                
 By Robert Gibbons
                                
 NEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices rose on
Tuesday in technical, thin trading and lifted by stronger
equities and lowered expectations about a quick return of
Libya's oil exporting capabilities.
                                
 Strong U.S. heating oil <HOc1> and gasoline <RBc1> futures
helped lift crude prices early as products were boosted by news
of a Sunoco <SUN.N> refinery restoring capacity after losing
power and expectations weekly inventory reports would show
slumping U.S. products stockpiles. [ID:nN29258053] [EIA/S]
                                
 Expectations for a swift restoration of Libyan oil to the
market were reduced by successes of troops loyal to Muammar
Gaddafi's government in reversing rebel gains, adding lift to
oil prices. [ID:nLDE72S033]
                                
 Brent crude futures for May delivery <LCOc1> rose 36 cents
to settle at $115.16 a barrel, bouncing off its early $113.52
low.
                                
 U.S. May crude futures <CLc1> rose 81 cents to end at
$104.79 a barrel, snapping a string of three lower sessions.
                                
 Prices reached $105 after slumping to $102.70, where crude
found support just below the 20-day moving average of $102.87,
according to Reuters data.
                                
 Traders and brokers said U.S. crude had felt technical
pressure after Thursday's $106.69 intraday peak that failed to
reach the 2-1/2 year intraday high of $106.95 from March 7.
                                
 Recent low trading volumes have added to price volatility,
even as the uncertainty about threats to both supply and global
demand sent traders to the sideline, thinning volume.
                                
 Total U.S. crude trading volume was 412,711 lots, 48
percent below the 30-day average, according to Reuters data.
Brent trading volume was 323,036, 36 percent below the 30-day
average.
                                
 MIDDLE EAST TURMOIL
                                
 Continued protests and unrest in Yemen, Syria and news of
Kuwait's death sentences for three people for being in an
alleged Iranian spy ring kept worries about the potential for
supply disruptions in the region in play. [ID:nLDE72S19S]
[ID:nLDE71O2CH]
  <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  More on Middle East unrest:       [nTOPMEAST]  [nLDE71O2CH]
  Libya Graphics               http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
  Interactive graphic          http://link.reuters.com/puk87r
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 U.S. stocks rose, also amid thin trading volume as the
first-quarter 2011 draws to a close, erasing initial declines,
helped by energy stocks and technology and retail sectors that
were pressured after Japan's earthquake. [.N]
                                
 Wall Street rose despite news that U.S. consumer confidence
fell in March in the face of higher fuel prices and that U.S.
home prices fell in January. [ID:nLDE72S209]
                                
 Pump prices up 26 percent from year ago kept U.S. gasoline
demand flat last week compared to the previous week and down
versus year ago, MasterCard Advisors said. [ID:nDZE7DS006]
                                
 Uncertainty about oil demand in Japan as the country
struggles to deal with its post-quake nuclear crisis remained a
factor helping to hem in oil prices. [ID:nL3E7ET0PZ]
                                
 "We have two factors that are countervailing," said Harry
Tchilinguirian, analyst at BNP Paribas.
                                
 "There is a risk premium in the Middle East built in on
risk of further contagion. On the other hand we have the fact
Japan is a major component of the global supply chain, so the
potential for a price correction in the second quarter
remains."
                                
 INVENTORY REPORTS
                                
 U.S. crude stockpiles rose 5.7 million barrels last week,
much more than analysts expected, the American Petroleum
Institute said in its weekly report released late on Tuesday.
                                
 Gasoline stocks fell 2.0 million barrels and distillate
stocks fell only 112,000 barrels, the API said. [API/S]
                                
 Crude prices briefly pared gains after the report.
                                
 Ahead of the API report, a Reuters survey of analysts had
estimated crude stocks would be up 1.8 million barrels, with
gasoline stocks seen down 1.9 million barrels and distillate
stocks down 600,000 barrels. [EIA/S]
                                
 "The API report is somewhat bullish due to the gasoline
data. We have seen large drawdowns over the past several weeks,
and if the trend does not reverse, supplies could become very
tight just in time for the height of the driving season," said
John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
                                
 The U.S. Energy Information Administration's inventory
report at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.
 (Additional reporting by Nia Williams, Barbara Lewis, Florence
Tan, Alejandro Barbajosa and Randy Fabi; Editing by Marguerita
Choy)