NYMEX-US crude steadies above $103 as Ukraine tensions ease

SEOUL, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures held just above $103 a barrel on Wednesday after pulling back from 5-1/2 month highs hit earlier in the week, as tensions over Russian military intervention in Crimea calmed.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude for April delivery CLc1 gained 1 cents at $103.34 a barrel as of 0018 GMT after settling $1.59 lower at $103.33 in the previous session.

* April Brent crude LCOc1 settled $1.90 lower at $109.30 a barrel.

* President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defence of Russia's actions in Crimea on Tuesday and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

But tension remained high on the ground, with Russian forces firing warning shots in a confrontation with Ukrainian servicemen, and Russian navy ships were reported to have blockaded the strait separating the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula from Russia. News Search ID:nL6N0M141D

* In Asia, China is aiming for economic growth of about 7.5 percent in 2014 and to keep consumer inflation around 3.5 percent for the year, Premier Li Keqiang said as the country began its annual meeting of parliament, the National People's Congress.

The annual growth target was the same as in 2013 - as expected by most analysts. News Search ID:nB9N0LF01H

* U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels last week, in line with expectations, inventory data released by the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, where the American benchmark is priced, fell by 2.6 million barrels, the data showed. Href="NewsSearch">API/S

The government's Energy Information Administration will publish its data on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST. Href="NewsSearch">EIA/S

* In Libya, top officials said production at the El Sharara oilfield may resume as they are working to address protesters demands. Production there has fallen to little over 200,000 barrels per day from 1.4 million bpd in July due to protests that closed the oilfield in the eastern region of the country.

News Search ID:nL6N0M13EG

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian stocks rose and the dollar held firm in early trade on Wednesday, after remarks from Russian President Vladimir Putin allayed fears of an imminent military conflict in Ukraine. The dollar index .DXY edged up to 80.150, moving away from Friday's two-month low of 79.688. Href="NewsSearch">MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Wednesday: (Time in GMT)

DATA (GMT)

0145 China HSBC Services PMI CNPMIS=ECI

0843 Italy Markit/ADACI Services PMI ITPMIS=ECI

0848 France Markit Services PMI FRPMIS=ECI

0853 Germany Markit Services PMI DEPMIS=ECI

0858 Euro zone Markit Services PMI EUPMIS=ECI

1000 Euro zone Revised Q4 GDP EUGDPY=ECI

1000 Euro zone Retail sales EURSLY=ECI

1315 U.S. ADP national employment USADP=ECI

1500 U.S. ISM Non-manufacturing PMI USNPMI=ECI

(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho; Editing by Ed Davies)

((meeyoung.cho@thomsonreuters.com)(+82 2 3704 5653)(Reuters Messaging: meeyoung.cho.reuters.com@reuters.net))

 
((CRUDE OIL TRADES  
    Asia... ACRU/T       Europe... CRU/T     Americas... CRU/TU   
      
                       CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS  
    Crude oil tenders in Asia........................ CRU/TENDA   
    Crude oil supply outages in Asia............ CRU/OUT-ASIA-O   
    Refinery outages in Asia.................... REF/OUT-ASIA-O   
    Global arbitrage news and flows................. O/CRUDEARB   
    W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly........ O/WAFRICA1   
      
                    REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES  
    Asia... REF/A      Middle East... REF/ME    Europe... REF/E   
      
                       NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA  
    Japan..............     China.............. O/CHINA1   
    India.............. O/INDIA2    S.Korea............ O/KOREA1   
    Indonesia....... O/INDO1-CRU      
      
                       CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA  
    Japan... O/JAPAN1      US... EIA/S      Europe... O/EUROIL1   
      
                    CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS  
    OPEC output survey... OPEC/O    New Asian fields... ASIA/NEW   
    New Africa fields... AFR/NEW    New Europe fields.. NSEA/NEW   
    New Americas fields.. AM/NEW    New projects..... ENERGY/NEW   
      
                       CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS  
    Middle East........... CRU/M    Asia-Pacific........ CRU/AP   
    West Africa......... CRU/WAF    North Sea............ CRU/E   
    Asia outlook....... ASIA/CRU    Europe outlook..... EUR/CRU   
    Global futures report... O/R    Technicals report...... O/I   
      
                            PRICES  
    For all Official Selling Prices...................... OSP/O   
    For a POLL on oil prices............................ O/POLL   
    NYMEX and ICE oil futures...........................    
    TOCOM crude oil futures.............................    
    Dubai, Oman swaps and spread...............    
    Middle East physical crude diffs...............    
    Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps..........    
    Asia-Pacific physical crude....................    
    All Asian crude oil differentials................    
    All Asian crude oil outright prices..................  ))

Keywords: MARKETS ASIA NYMEX/