PERTH, Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures inched
higher on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about unrest in Egypt,
while a weaker dollar helped Brent rise above $102 a barrel.
Earlier, a government report showing high crude and oil
product inventories in the U.S. world's largest consumer kept
some pressure on WTI oil prices.
Brent's premium to its U.S. counterpart <CL-LCO1=R> pushed
to a record high above $15 a barrel.
FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude
rose 13 cents to $86.84 a barrel by 0101 GMT. ICE March Brent
rose to $102.06 a barrel, up 24 cents.
* U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks rose last
week, the EIA said.
* Egypt's government hit back at what it called U.S.
attempts to "impose" American will on a loyal Middle East ally,
saying rapid reforms would be too risky as pro-democracy
protesters consolidated a new encampment around Cairo's
parliament building.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested U.S.
economic conditions are still too weak for the central bank to
pull back on its vast monetary stimulus, despite a welcome drop
in the jobless rate.
* Saudi Arabia in 2007 threatened to pull out of a
multi-billion-dollar Texas oil refinery investment unless the
U.S. government intervened to stop state company Saudi Aramco
being sued in U.S. courts for alleged oil price fixing,
according to U.S. diplomatic cables seen by Wikileaks.
* China's CNPC, parent of PetroChina , plans to
boost first-quarter crude throughput 13.3 percent from a year
earlier and stood ready to import 600,000 tonnes of diesel to
meet rising agricultural use during a drought.
* There is no need for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting as
the oil market is well supplied and the recent price rise is not
related to any threat to supplies, the oil producer group's
secretary-general was quoted as saying.
* Armed pirates seized a U.S.-bound oil tanker carrying
Kuwaiti crude off the coast of Oman, the ship's Greek manager
said.
MARKETS NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei average edged lower on Thursday as
investors kept taking profits on a rise in share prices and amid
wariness about overheating in the market.
* The U.S. dollar fell against the euro, after a strong
Treasury debt sale accelerated bearish sentiment in the wake of
comments by the Fed chairman that its bond-buying program would
continue.
* Investors took profits on recent rises in U.S. stocks, but
a last-minute increase in Bank of America helped lift the Dow to
its eighth straight day of gains.
* Gold edged down on Thursday after holdings on the ETF
slipped again, but a weaker U.S. dollar could stir up trade.
* Copper ended lower in New York after falling to its lowest
in over a week, as prices continued to back away from recent
records on concerns about high inflation and tepid demand in
China.
DATA/EVENTS
0745 France Industrial output mm Dec
0800 OECD IEA Oil Market Report Feb
0900 Italy Industrial output yy WDA Dec
1330 U.S. USDA grain exports Weekly
1330 U.S. Initial jobless claims Weekly
1500 U.S. Whole sale inventories Dec
1530 U.S. EIA natural gas stocks Weekly
1200 Britain BoE rate decision Feb
:: OPEC OPEC Monthly Report Feb
(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede in PERTH, Gene Ramos and Robert
Gibbons in NEW YORK; Editing by Ed Lane)
