UPDATE 11-Oil trims loss on Mideast unrest, Japan weigh

                                
 * Saudi troops enter Bahrain to protect govt buildings
                                
 * Japan Nikkei shares fall more than 6 percent on quake
                                
 * Japan's refined oil products, gas demand likely to rise
                                
 
                                
 (Recast, updates prices)
                                
 By Ikuko Kurahone
                                
 LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Oil trimmed losses on Monday on
continued unrest in oil rich North Africa and the Middle East,
while concerns over the economic impact from Japan's massive
earthquake last week continued to drag on investor confidence.
                                
 ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> was trading 87 cents lower at      
$112.97 a barrel by 1535 GMT, reversing a $3 drop to a two-week
low of $111.16 earlier in the day.
                                
 U.S. crude <CLc1> was $1.19 lower at $99.97 by the same
time, after hitting an intraday low of $98.55.
                                
 Prices pushed off the lows after Saudi Arabia sent troops
into Bahrain on Monday to help put down weeks of protests by the
Shi'ite Muslim majority, a move opponents of the Sunni ruling
family there called a declaration of war. [ID:nLDE72D0KH]
                                
 Bahrain, an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia, called in
forces from its Sunni neighbours to quell the unrest after
protesters overwhelmed police and blocked roads in a resurgence
of mass protests seen last month.
                                
 Christopher Bellew with Bache Commodities said the unrest in
the region would continue to provide support to oil prices.
                                
 "With the continuing and arguably worsening unrest in the
Middle East, I would expect the oil market to move higher
again," he said.
                                
 Barclays Capital said developments in Bahrain would be "an
important touchstone" for the rest of the Gulf region.
                                
 "While the capacity of central government to maintain
internal control is high elsewhere in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation
Council), that is not currently the case in Bahrain, and it
appears likely that the other governments are determined to
contain unrest to Bahrain for fear of a heightened external
influence in the region," the bank said in a research note.
                                
 Still, global markets remained under pressure due to the
catastrophe in Japan, where oil demand from the world number
three energy consumer, was expected to fall in the short to
medium term as economic activity stalls following the quake.
                                
 Japan's Nikkei stock average <.N225> fell more than 6
percent, dragging global equities lower. Global commodities
prices mostly fell. [.EU][.N]
                                
 Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Sunday said the country was
facing its biggest disaster since the second world war. The
earthquake and tsunami on Friday devastated a large part of
northeast Japan, killing at least 10,000 people. [ID:nL3E7EC0D6]
                                
 Nuclear power plants' coolant systems failed and two 
explosions hit the Fukushima nuclear plant. Operator Tokyo
Electric Power Co <9501.T> was struggling to keep coolant water
in one reactor core.
                                
 Many other nuclear plants and oil refineries have been shut.
Ports and other infrastructure sustained severe damage.
                                
 
                                
 REFINED OIL PRODUCTS
                                
 Refined oil products and gas prices, however, were
outperforming crude oil prices due to an expected increase in
import demand in coming weeks and months from Japan to cover
lost oil refining and nuclear power generation capacity.
<NEWOILOIL> <NGc1> [ID:nL3E7EE025]
                                
 Construction shares were up in Asia as northeast Japan was
expected to need extensive reconstruction work.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  Factbox on Japan quake tears through commodity, energy
  sectors:                                   [ID:nL3E7EB1UN]
  SPECIAL REPORT-Can Japan find "New Deal"? [ID:nL3E7ED0FC]
  Quake to hit Japan economy, lift debt     [ID:nN12187648]
  Nuclear incident scale:       http://r.reuters.com/cag58r
  Map of reactors:              http://r.reuters.com/dyf58r
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 Muammar Gaddafi's jets bombed Libyan rebels on Monday,
aiding a counter-offensive that has pushed insurgents 100 miles
(160 km) eastwards in a week, as France pressed for a no-fly
zone "as fast as possible". [ID:nLDE72D018]
                                
 More than half of Libya's 1.6 million barrels per day oil
output has been shut in due to the unrest.
                                
 In Yemen, heavy gunfire was heard south of the capital on
Monday and soldiers deployed in force in Sanaa itself, with a
new wave of rallies reported across the country demanding 
President Ali Abdullah Saleh quit. [ID:nLDE72D0SX]
 (Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Keiron Henderson)