WTI and Brent sit ~$0.10 below their............>

OIL: WTI and Brent sit ~$0.10 below their respective settlement levels, holding

a very narrow range in Asia-Pac hours. This comes after the benchmarks lodged

modest gains on Thursday, chopping about within the recent ranges amid a lack of

conviction.

- The latest DoE inventory data revealed a 'surprise' build in headline crude

stocks, a decent build in stocks at the Cushing hub, a sharper than expected

drawdown in gasoline inventories and a 'surprise' build in distillates.

- BBG reports have noted that the owner of the Dakota Access oil pipeline "is

continuing to accept scheduled shipments for next month and has made no moves to

take it offline."

- Elsewhere, tensions in Libya remain evident. Argus Media noted that "Libya's

state-owned NOC today lifted force majeure restrictions at the Es Sider export

terminal, but its attempts to load crude onto a waiting tanker were stymied by a

militia group." Further afield in the country, BBG sources noted that "a

technical issue at Libya's Sarir oil refinery forced it to stop operating

forcing Messla oilfield (30K bpd) to halt its production."