RTRS:UPDATE 2-Brent crude slips under $110, eyes on Fed
* Concerns over North Africa supply disruptions support prices
* Investors cautious ahead of Fed minutes
* Coming up: EIA oil inventory data at 1430 GMT (Updates prices)
By Luke Pachymuthu
SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Brent crude eased for a third session out of four to trade under $110 a barrel on Wednesday, reflecting caution among investors waiting for more clues from the U.S. Federal Reserve on its stimulus strategy.
Brent touched one-week lows on Tuesday on worries the Fed would curb its monthly $85-billion bond purchases from next month. The bond purchases have boosted market liquidity and supported commodities in recent years.
But supply risks amid tensions in Egypt and Libya provided some support to oil prices.
Brent crude for October delivery was down 53 cents at $109.62 a barrel by 0627 GMT.
U.S. October oil was 50 cents lower at $104.61 a barrel. The September contract expired on Tuesday, closing down 2 percent at $104.96, its largest one-day loss in two months.
"A lot of money has come out of the market because of the uncertainty over the Fed's stimulus policy, so expect to see rangebound trading like we have had in the past few weeks," said Carl Larry, president of Houston-based consultancy Oil Outlooks and Opinions.
The Fed will release minutes of its latest policy meeting later on Wednesday, with investors looking for clues on when it plans to taper its bond purchases.
ALARM BELLS
Political crisis in Egypt and labour unrest in Libya continued to stoke worries over supplies.
"Egypt is on the boil, and if this thing spins out of control you'll have alarm bells going off among other producers in the region about a potential domino effect," Larry said.
"Egypt is not a major oil producer but it is home to one of the most important shipping routes for commodities. If things go bad, who will ensure the security of the Suez Canal?"
In OPEC nation Libya, the head of the country's Petroleum Facilities Guard said that striking workers at a key oil port had fired on civilians and injured at least one person. Independent confirmation of the shooting was not immediately available.
About half of Libya's more than 1.2-million-barrels-per-day export capacity remains shut down due to civil unrest, industry sources have said.
Elsewhere, U.S. commercial crude oil and gasoline inventories are forecast to have dropped last week, while distillate inventories likely rose, an expanded Reuters poll of analysts showed. (Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Tom Hogue)
