* Saudi troops enter Bahrain to support Sunni government
* Japan fuel needs after quake support distillate futures
* Coming up: API oil data at 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices and market activity)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices were little
changed on Monday in volatile trading, as Middle East unrest
and stronger distillate futures on expectations quake-ravaged
Japan will import fuel to cover for refining shutdowns offset
concerns for slowed economic activity.
News that Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain to help
respond to protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority opponents of
the Sunni ruling family helped pull oil off early lows.
Also providing support were strong distillate futures that
were lifted by expectations that Japan will need to import fuel
to cover lost refining and nuclear power generation capacity.
Global markets came under pressure earlier due to the
catastrophe in Japan as 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.
Brent crude futures for April delivery <LCOc1> fell 17
cents to settle at $113.67 a barrel, bouncing off its $111.16
low trade.
U.S. crude futures for April delivery <CLc1> rose 3 cents
to settle at $101.19 a barrel, after falling to a $98.47 low.
"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.
MIDDLE EAST UNREST
About 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered Bahrain, according to a
Saudi official source. Opponents of the Sunni ruling family in
Bahrain called the move a declaration of war. []
The United States does not consider the Saudi forces entry
into Bahrain an invasion, the White House said.
[]
In Yemen, neighbor country to Saudi Arabia, heavy gunfire
was heard south of the capital and soldiers deployed in Sanaa
itself, with a new wave of rallies reported across the country
demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh quit. []
Muammar Gaddafi's troops continued to make advances as they
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. []
More than half of Libya's 1.6 million barrels per day oil
output has been shut in due to the unrest.
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> []
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. []
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. []
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.
[]
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Factbox on Japan quake tears through commodity, energy
sectors: []
SPECIAL REPORT-Can Japan find "New Deal?" []
Quake to hit Japan economy, lift debt []
Nuclear incident scale: http://r.reuters.com/cag58r
Map of reactors: http://r.reuters.com/dyf58r
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(Additional reporting by Ikuko Kurahone in London and
Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
