NYMEX-U.S. crude rebounds on Fed, Greece optimism

* Hopes Fed will extend stimulus helps lift crude higher
* Greece seen forming new government, renegotiating bailout
* POLL - U.S. crude stocks down, products up last week
* Coming up: API petroleum inventory data, 4:30 p.m. EDT
Tuesday

NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rebounded
on Tuesday as investors bet that Federal Reserve policymakers,
who are holding a two-day meeting, will agree to provide further
stimulus to the sluggish economy and that inventory data will
show a drawdown in crude stocks.
Hopes that Greece will shortly form a coalition government
and renegotiate its bailout package with lenders added to
positive sentiment.
News that Iran hoped for a new round of talks with world
powers over its nuclear program after its latest negotiations
were deadlocked had helped pull prices lower, traders said.

Euro zone worries persisted after a German government
official said that there was no discussion at the G20 summit in
Mexico this week about using Europe's rescue funds to buy up the
bonds of stricken members of the euro zone.
British media reports earlier said German Chancellor Angela
Merkel was poised to use Europe's dual bailout funds, known as
the EFSF and ESM, to buy up the debt of countries like Italy and
Spain and had discussed the plans at the summit.
U.S. crude oil inventories were forecast to have fallen 1.1
million barrels last week due to lower imports, a Reuters poll
of analysts showed.
Distillate stocks were forecast up 800,000 barrels while
gasoline stocks were expected to show an increase of the same
magnitude, the poll showed.
The American Petroleum Institute will issue its inventory
report for the week to June 15 by 4:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT).
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will follow with
its weekly report on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT).

FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for July
delivery settled at $84.03 a barrel, up 76 cents, or 0.91
percent, after trading between $82.28 and $84.41.
* In London, ICE Brent crude for August delivery
ended down 29 cents, or 0.30 percent at $95.76 a barrel, the
lowest settlement for front-month Brent since Jan. 25, 2011. In
early trade, the contract slumped to a session low of $94.44.
* August Brent's premium against U.S. August crude
closed at $11.41, after dropping as low as $11.36, the narrowest
spread of Brent over U.S. crude since Jan. 31. The premium ended
at $12.45 on Monday.
* There is an overhang of nearly 30 million barrels of
unsold oil from Nigeria from the past two to three months
because of a lack of buying interest from U.S. and European
refiners, traders said.
* A new giant crude distillate unit at Motiva Enterprises'
600,000 barrel per day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery,
the nation's largest, may be shut for up to 12 months to repair
extensive corrosion, sources familiar with refinery operations
said.
* Mexico's state oil monopoly Pemex awarded four
contracts to drill mature oil fields in the second round of
bidding to open up the country's nationalized oil industry to
more private investment.
* U.S. housing starts fell in May from a 3-1/2-year high,
although permits to build new homes rose sharply, suggesting a
nascent housing recovery remains on track, a prospect that is
supportive for oil futures.

MARKETS NEWS
* U.S. stocks gained on hopes that the Federal Reserve's
policymakers will agree on extending stimulus measures as the
economy struggles to recover.
* The euro rallied against the dollar and yen, buoyed by
positive news out of Greece and as a runup in U.S. stocks
encouraged investors to take on riskier positions.
* Copper jumped more than 1 percent on hopes that Fed
policymakers will extend economic stimulus measures.
* Gold fell as buyers stayed on the sidelines ahead of a
U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting that could signal new
monetary stimulus, a move that would likely power the metal's
recent rally.

UPCOMING EVENTS/DATA
* U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum
inventory data, 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).

SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO
CHNG CHNG VOL VOL
CLc1 84.03 0.76 0.9% 82.28 84.41 78,172 216,955
CLc2 84.35 0.75 0.9% 82.60 84.75 267,376 176,241
LCOc1 95.76 -0.29 -0.3% 94.44 96.80 266,417 233,812
RBc1 2.6415 -0.0194 -0.7% 2.6277 2.6680 43,831 43,402
RBc2 2.5699 -0.0166 -0.6% 2.5531 2.5960 49,450 40,676
HOc1 2.6351 0.0174 0.7% 2.5896 2.6512 51,606 59,739
HOc2 2.6342 0.0144 0.6% 2.5919 2.6496 52,933 40,800

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME OPEN INTEREST
CURRENT Jun 18 30D AVG Jun 18 NET CHNG
CRUDE 497,454 569,987 555,216 1,462,806 7,712
RBOB 149,004 118,146 146,981 299,171 -2,036
HO 184,865 148,272 136,956 314,200 -1,709