Crude-oil futures were mostly unchanged in Asian trading hours Friday as markets evaluated U.S. oil inventory data and expectations of lower demand as refineries begin shutting for repairs. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $102.68 a barrel at 0707 GMT, down $0.07 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.06 to $110.24 a barrel. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by one million barrels to 362.3 million barrels compared with an average estimate for stocks to rise by 1.8 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 14, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. However, oil inventories at the Nymex delivery point of Cushing, Okla. fell by 1.7 million barrels to 35.9 million barrels, the lowest level since October and around 30% lower than a year earlier. "This week's stats represent a slightly bearish picture for both crude and products," Societe Generale said in a note, adding that overall stocks rose in spite of a big drop in crude imports and only a slight drop in refinery runs. "Seasonally, crude demand may come under pressure due to upcoming refinery maintenance, and product demand may lower due to end-of-winter heating demand, which will be short-run bearish," the bank said. Meanwhile, the premium of Brent to Nymex WTI has narrowed to around $7.51 a barrel. "We continue to view the current level in the spread as a potential equilibrium," said Tim Evans, energy markets strategist at Citi Futures. He said oil prices could break higher or lower depending on how Brent crude reacts to ongoing developments in Libya or other oil producers. A large number of oil market participants continue to view the current surge in oil prices as temporary, citing the bearish oversupply building up for the rest of the year from OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Singapore-based OCBC Bank said it maintains its bearish forecast for WTI crude at $85 a barrel and for Brent crude at $95 a barrel by year-end. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for March--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 1 points to $2.8465 a gallon, while March heating oil traded at $3.1706, 71 points lower. ICE gasoil for March changed hands at $938.25 a metric ton, up $0.75 from Thursday's settlement.

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