NYMEX-Crude little changed above $82/bbl

                                
 TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures were little
changed on Friday around $82 a barrel, just under an eight-week
high hit two days earlier.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * NYMEX crude for April delivery <CLc1> was up 22 cents at
$82.33 a barrel by 0022 GMT, after settling up just 2 cents at
$82.11 a day earlier amid mixed U.S. economic data.
                                
 Oil hit an eight-week high of $83.03 on Wednesday.
                                
 * The U.S. trade gap narrowed unexpectedly in January, but 
weekly jobless benefit claims fell less than expected, data
showed on Thursday. [ID:nN11203719]
                                
 * Oil demand and supply data reviewed by a panel of OPEC
economists before the group's March 17 gathering indicated no
need for it to change output policy, two OPEC delegates said on
Thursday. [ID:nWLB9884]
                                
 * China must cool lending growth this year but faces complex
challenges in adjusting the pace and intensity of credit flows,
an assistant governor of the country's central bank said in an
interview published on Friday. [ID:nBJB003732]
                                
 Guo Qingping, a People's Bank of China assistant governor,
told the Financial News that the "situation of monetary and
credit growth must certainly turn around." 
                                
 * Repairs to a fire damaged catalytic cracker at Valero
Energy Corp's <VLO.N> 265,000 barrel per day refinery at Levis,
Quebec, should be completed by mid-April, a spokesman for the
company's Ultramar unit said on Thursday. [ID:nN11248770]
                                
 MARKETS NEWS
                                
 * The S&P 500 hit a 17-month closing high on Thursday as
rising bank shares led a late rally that lifted U.S. stocks on
Thursday, more than offsetting worries China may move to cool its
overheating economy.
                                
 * The U.S. dollar was subdued on Friday ahead of key retail
sales for February which could show consumer spending taking a
hit and hurting overall prospects of a durable economic recovery.
[USD/]
                                
 DATA/EVENTS
                                
 * The following data is expected on Friday:
                                
 - 0430 GMT--Japan Industrial Output Rev/Jan
                                
 - 0700 GMT--Germany Wholesale Price Index/Feb
                                
 - 1000 GMT--Euro Zone Industrial Output/Jan
                                
 - 1330 GMT--US Retail Sales/Feb
                                
 - 1455 GMT--US U Mich Inflation-P/Mar
                                
 - 1530 GMT--US ECRI/Weekly
                                
 RELATED NEWS
> Soybeans, sugar plummet; oil, metals up modestly [COM/WRAP]
                                
 PRICES
 Oil prices as of 0022 GMT          
 Contract Mnth    Price  Change  Day ago     pct     MA-20*
 NYMEX Contracts
 US Crude APR0   $82.33   +0.22   +$0.02  +0.02%     $79.40
 Heat Oil APR0   212.00   +0.50    -0.12  -0.06%     204.68
 RBOB     APR0   228.05   +0.85    -1.31  -0.57%     213.11
 Natgas   APR0   $4.454  +0.014  -$0.119  -2.61%     $4.860
 ICE Contracts
 Brent    APR0       --   +0.00   -$0.20  -0.25%     $77.75
 Gasoil   APR0       --   +0.00   -$1.50  -0.22%    $631.23
 Note: U.S. heating oil and RBOB gasoline contracts listed in
cents per gallon.
 * = 20-day moving average for continuation month.
 (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)