Reply #3: Oil steady as US fuel stocks look set to ebb

[ozymandius]

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil inched up on Wednesday ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data expected to show flat or falling fuel supplies as spring refinery maintenance causes swollen stocks to ebb.

Anxiety over Iran's nuclear row with the West ahead of a key U.N. report next Monday and the continued shut-in of a fifth of Nigeria's output also supported prices above $60, a level likely to keep OPEC pumping at full throttle.

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U.S. crude stocks probably rose by 1.2 million barrels in the week ended February 24, keeping a robust surplus versus a year ago, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.

But gasoline inventories were seen steady and distillate stocks falling as refiners shut down for spring maintenance, which threatens to drain stocks in coming weeks.

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