By Jenny Gross Brent crude futures rose Tuesday, recovering some of last week's steep losses, with market participants focusing on a potential increase in oil demand from refineries exiting seasonal maintenance. At 0958 GMT, the May Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange was at $105.06 a barrel, up 40 cents, or 0.4%. The Nymex light, sweet crude for May delivery was at $93.57 a barrel, up 21 cents or 0.2%. Torbjorn Kjus, an oil market analyst at DnB NOR, said he's optimistic about Brent prices, expecting them to gain as much as another $4 a barrel this quarter as demand picks up from European refineries. "We should expect better crude demand as refineries come out of maintenance in the next two months," said Mr. Kjus. "At the same time, there should be field maintenance in the North Sea picking up in May and June." Still, he said Brent futures will have to close at about $105.05 a barrel Tuesday for a sustainable, short-term rebound. All eyes are on Japan and its monetary policy easing, which could potentially provide further support to global markets, said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Swiss consultancy Petromatrix. "There's a lot of focus on what Japan is doing with quantitative easing, and that is providing a certain floor on equities," Mr. Jakob said. "We have to see if it provides some support to commodities." Mr. Jakob said investors are awaiting reports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency this week, which are likely to shift the focus to world supply and demand. At 1002 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for April delivery was up $4.25, or 0.5%, at $885.00 per metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for May delivery was up 264 points, or 0.9%, at $2.9357 per gallon.

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