FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery rose 20 cents a barrel at $100.94 as of 0012 GMT after settling down 0.17 percent at $100.74 on Tuesday.
* In London, ICE March Brent crude expired and settled at $118.16, gaining 23 cents, or 0.2 percent on the previous session.
* Oil prices were supported by production concerns in the Middle East as oil production and exports from Yemen's Masila oilfield, the country's largest, have stopped after workers from state-owned PetroMasila went on strike over pay issues last Thursday, oil ministry officials told Reuters.
* Israel says Iranian man seriously wounded in Bangkok on Tuesday when a bomb he was carrying exploded was an attempted terrorist attack by Iran.
* Israel has accused Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of being behind twin bomb attacks that targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people.
* But the rise in the oil prices were limited as U.S. crude oil inventories rose more than expected last week as imports rebounded and oil product stocks were mixed, weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will issue its own report on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).
* The markets were also pressured by persisting euro zone debt woes, as European finance ministers dropped plans for a face-to-face meeting on Greece's new bailout and the Greek cabinet argued up to the last minute on how to plug a 325 million euro ($427 million) gap in its austerity plan.
* Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Rome on Friday to discuss the latest developments in the euro zone debt crisis, Monti said on Tuesday.
MARKETS NEWS
* The euro steadied around $1.3126, off Tuesday's low around $1.3080. The dollar hovered near its highest in more than three months against the yen of 78.55 yen hit on Tuesday.
* Japan's Nikkei share average rose in early trade on Wednesday, extending the previous session's gains after the Bank of Japan boosted its asset buying programme and set an inflation target of 1 percent to pull the economy out of deflation.
* Major equities indexes on Wall Street were mixed at the close, with financial and basic materials companies ending lower and the retail sector hitting a record even as U.S. retail sales rose less than expected last month.
The following data is expected on Wednesday:
0700 Germany GDP flash yy Oct 2011
0900 Italy GDP prelim yy Oct 2011
1000 EZ Eurostat trade nsa, EUR Dec 2011
1000 EZ GDP flash estimate yy Oct 2011
1330 U.S. NY Fed manufacturing Feb
1415 U.S. Industrial output mm Jan
1500 U.S. NAHB housing market indx Feb
1530 U.S. EIA petroleum status report Weekly
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