NYMEX-Crude rally falters, eyes Wed EIA data

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell
back Tuesday afternoon as traders sold into a rally, turning
their focus on weekly inventory data due out on Wednesday, in
which forecasts call for stock builds across the board.

Crude futures rallied earlier, spurred by improved crack
spreads, cold weather news of output cuts by Saudi Arabia amid
indications OPEC could cut again in March.

"Products led the market higher but ... expectations for
more inventory builds may be starting to weigh on the market,"
said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford,
Connecticut.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:45 p.m. EST
(1845 GMT), February crude CLG9 was down 25 cents, or 0.67
percent, at $37.34 per barrel, trading from $36.10 to $39.50.

The spread between front-month February and the March
contract widened to nearly $7.

* In London, February Brent LCOG9 crude was up $1.42, or
3.31 percent, at $44.33 a barrel, trading from $41.84 to
$45.59. The February contract expires on Thursday.

* NYMEX February heating oil HOG9 was up 3.87 cents, or
2.63 percent, at $1.5111 a gallon, trading from $1.4534 to
$1.5520.

* NYMEX February RBOB RBG9 was up 2.74 cents, or 2.53
percent, at $1.1115 a gallon, trading from $1.0691 to $1.1764.

* The Feb/Feb RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> shot up to
$9.34. It ended at $7.94 on Monday. The Feb/Feb heating oil
crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $26.13, after ending at $24.25
on Monday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $35.70, up
slightly from Monday's close at $35.45. The February 2014
contract settled at $73.04 on Monday.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $42.70/$40.86

Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $35.13/$39.92

NYMEX heating oil: $1.40/$1.60

NYMEX RBOB: $1.0594/1.1156

For a report on technicals, click [ID:nLD178222]

MARKET NEWS

* A Reuters poll of analysts showed forecasts for a
2.2-million-barrel build in U.S. crude supplies for the week to
Jan. 9 and for distillates and gasoline stocks to also show
increases, each by more than 1.0 million barrels. [EIA/S]

* Saudi Arabia has removed 1.7 million barrels per day of
oil from the world market since last summer, Saudi Arabian Oil
Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday. [ID:nLD426976]

* Saudi Arabia plans to cut more than its OPEC target in
February and is prepared to cut more, if needed, Oil Minister
Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday. [ID:nLD251825]

* U.S. Northeast temperatures were expected to be below
normal in the six- to 10-day forecast from private forecaster
DTN Meteorlogix. [ID:nDTN777]

* U.S. heating demand this week is expected to average 7.7
percent above normal, the National Weather Service said.
Heating oil demand is expected to be about 13.7 percent above
normal. [ID:nN12314387]

* World oil demand is forecast to fall 810,000 bpd in 2009
from a year earlier, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
said. The EIA revised its 2009 world demand projection down by
200,000 bpd from its previous forecast. [ID:nLD477506]

* Russia started pumping natural gas to Europe through
Ukraine Tuesday. The European Union said little or no gas was
flowing to countries with urgent shortages. [ID:nLD708539]

* U.S. stocks were little changed Tuesday afternoon as
comments by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke fueled bets that
the government could take toxic assets off bank books, pushing
up financial shares and offsetting worries about the
fourth-quarter earnings season. [.n]
(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons; Editing by
Christian Wiessner)