By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were mixed in Asian trading hours on Friday while financial markets wait for the monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls later in the trading day. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $97.66 a barrel at 0623 GMT--down $0.18 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.09 to $ 107.28 a barrel. The U.S. employment report will give an indication about the health of the U.S. economy and whether the Federal Reserve will continue reducing the bond-buying program which has helped support commodity prices. The unusually bad weather that affected December's employment data may have a lesser impact on the labor market in January--and a gain in payrolls of 200,000 is expected which should calm nerves and support markets, Capital Economics said. Brent crude was in positive territory extending overnight gain on reports of disruptions to production in Libya. The Brent-WTI spread had widened to $9.71 per barrel. However, Libya's crude-oil production is expected to average more than 700,000 barrels a day in the first six months of 2014, consulting company Eurasia Group said in a report. The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday took fresh measures against companies with links to Iran for allegedly evading American sanctions. Talks with Tehran are scheduled for Feb. 18. The U.S. also alleged Iran has allowed senior al Qaeda members to operate from its soil and helped send Sunni fighters into Syria to escalate the region's sectarian conflict. Oil markets expect clarity on the international demand and supply situation next week when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency publish monthly reports. "Given some of the concerns regarding the emerging-market economies there may be some risk of downward revisions to global demand although it is often revisions to past demand that dictates the direction for the forward outlook," Citi Futures energy markets strategist Tim Evans said in a note. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for March--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 56 points to $2.6886 a gallon while March heating oil traded at $3.0059--108 points higher. ICE gasoil for February changed hands at $909.50 a metric ton, up $3.25 from Thursday's settlement.

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