<< news time
$105.20 a barrel by 8:21 a.m. EDT (1221 GMT), trading
>>>>
NYMEX-Crude up ahead of Q1 close, eyeing Midest
Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:33pm BST
* Algeria energy minister says no need for OPEC meeting
* Brent, NYMEX crude poised for big quarterly gains
* Coming up: EIA natgas data at 10:30 a.m. EDT Thurs
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices rose on
Thursday, the final trading day of the first quarter, with both U.S. and
Brent crude futures poised to post gains as Middle East unrest and Libya's
conflict kept supply concerns in focus.
Thursday's rise comes after crude futures eased on Wednesday, receiving
some pressure after news that U.S. crude inventories rose a
more-than-expected 2.95 million barrels last week, though gasoline
inventories fell 2.7 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration's weekly inventory report. [EIA/S]
FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude CLK1 rose 93 cents,
or 0.9 percent to $105.20 a barrel by 8:21 a.m. EDT (1221 GMT), trading
from $104.12 to $105.51.
* Japanese March manufacturing PMI came out at 46.4, down from the
previous 52.9.
* Euro zone consumer prices jumped 2.6 percent year-on-year in March,
up from 2.4 percent in February. Economists polled by Reuters had expected
2.3 percent.
* Libya's top oil official Shokri Ghanem said he remained in Tripoli
and the country was continuing to produce some oil, although output was
much reduced. [ID:nLDE72U1EG]
* The global oil price does not seem to be a problem and it is unlikely
OPEC will hold an extraordinary meeting on the subject, Algeria's energy
minister said. [ID:nLDE72U1AH]
* Japan's oil product sales rose 0.8 percent in February from a year
earlier as gasoline demand rose for a fourth straight month, but the
outlook has darkened after this month's earthquake. [ID:nL3E7EV0KK]
* The International Energy Agency expects an additional 200,000 barrels
per day of oil will be needed to make up for a shortfall of power
generation after Japan's nuclear disaster, the IEA's Executive Director
Nobuo Tanaka was quoted in a German newspaper as saying. [ID:nLDE72H0E6]
* Pressure mounted on Japan to expand the evacuation zone around its
stricken nuclear power plant while officials said radiation may be flowing
continuously into the sea, where contamination was 4,000 times the legal
limit. [ID:nLDE72U061]
* A Syrian panel which President Bashar al-Assad has established to
look into lifting emergency law will prepare anti-terrorism legislation to
replace it, the state news agency said on Thursday. [ID:nLDE72U10T]
* Sunoco Inc's Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania refinery remained at reduced
rates after a power outage this week, according to a source familiar with
operations. [ID:nN31202259]
MARKETS NEWS
* U.S. stock index futures were little changed on the final day of the
quarter, ahead of weekly jobless claims data that could give insight into
the U.S. employment situation. [.N]
* World stocks climbed, recovering all the losses from the Japan quake,
tsunami and nuclear crisis, and the euro inched higher ahead of the
publication of Irish bank stress tests aimed at capping one of the major
risks in Europe's debt crisis. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The euro also rose on above-forecast euro zone inflation, which
cemented the case for gradual rate rises from the European Central Bank.
The dollar index .DXY was weaker. [USD/]
* Gold was higher on dollar weakness, concern over euro zone sovereign
debt and unrest across the Middle East. [GOL/]
UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS
* U.S. weekly jobless claims at 0830 EDT (1230 GMT) are forecast at
380,000, compared to last week's 382,000.
* U.S. factory orders for February at 1000 EDT are seen rising 0.5
percent after January's 3.1 percent increase.