UPDATE 12-Oil slips on Japan; Libya, Mideast limit slide

                                
 * Saudi troops enter Bahrain to support Sunni government
                                
 * Japan struggles with nuclear reactor crisis after quake
                                
 * Coming up: API oil data at 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday
 (Recasts, updates prices and market activity)
                                
 By Robert Gibbons
                                
 NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices slipped on
Monday in volatile trading, pressured by expectations of slower
Japanese demand after a devastating earthquake, while
continuing unrest in the Middle East and Saudi military
intervention in Bahrain helped limit oil losses.
                                
 Global markets remained under pressure due to the
catastrophe in Japan. Oil demand in the world No. 3 energy
consumer was expected to fall in the short- to medium-term as
economic activity stalls and a third of its refining capacity
was shut following the quake.
                                
 Prices bounced off earlier lows on news Saudi Arabia sent
troops into Bahrain to help put down weeks of protests by the
Shi'ite Muslim majority and opponents of the Sunni ruling
family there called the move a declaration of war.
[ID:nLDE72D0KH]
                                
 Brent crude futures for April delivery <LCOc1> fell 54
cents to $113.30 a barrel at 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT), having
fallen as low as $111.16.
                                
 U.S. crude futures for April delivery <CLc1> fell 90 cents
to $100.26 a barrel, having fallen as low as $98.47.
                                
 "Japan's demand is expected to be way down in the near- to
medium-term. But Saudi troops in Bahrain and fighting in Yemen
and Libya bounced crude off their lows," said Phil Flynn,
analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
                                
 JAPAN'S EMERGENCY FUEL NEEDS
                                
 U.S. heating oil <HOc1>, ICE gas oil and natural gas
futures were supported by the expected increase in imports
required by Japan to cover lost oil refining and nuclear power
generation capacity. <NEWOILOIL> <NGc1> [ID:nL3E7EE025]
                                
 U.S. Gulf Coast jet fuel and ultra-low sulfur diesel
differentials to the benchmark heating oil futures contract
rose more than a penny per gallon on expectations of boosted
exports to Japan. [ID:nN14154284]
                                
 JAPAN'S NUCLEAR WOES
                                
 Japan scrambled to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear
plant after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of
fuel rods at another only days after a devastating earthquake
and tsunami. [ID:nL3E7EE2KY]
                                
 Nuclear fuel rods at one of the quake-stricken units were
exposed for a second time, local media said, quoting the
plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co <9501.T>, increasing
the risk of a meltdown and a higher level of radiation leak.
[ID:nTKG007089]
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  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
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 YEMEN AND LIBYA FIGHTING
                                
 In Yemen, a neighboring country to Saudi Arabia, heavy
gunfire was heard south of the capital 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]
                                
 Muammar Gaddafi's troops battled rebel fighters for control
of the strategic oil town of Brega and France stepped up
efforts to persuade world powers to impose a no-fly zone over
Libya. [ID:nLDE72D26A]
                                
 More than half of Libya's 1.6 million barrels per day oil
output has been shut in due to the unrest.
 (Additional reporting by Ikuko Kurahone in London and
Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)