WTI and Brent trade $0.25 and $0.20 above.......>

OIL: WTI and Brent trade $0.25 and $0.20 above settlement respectively, back

from best levels, as the major Asia-Pacific equity benchmarks and U.S. equity

index futures move lower.

- Reports suggest that the latest weekly API crude inventory estimate revealed a

surprise headline crude drawdown of 2.6mn bbl. The reports also pointed to a

1.1mn bbl drawdown at the Cushing hub, a surprise ~200K bbl build in distillate

stocks & a larger than expected 5.8mn bbl drawdown in gasoline stocks.

- Tuesday saw Interfax suggest that the OPEC+ agreement could be extended in

April, based on the current terms, or potentially, slightly looser parameters.

- Elsewhere, BBG reports suggested that the UAE energy min warned Wall St. re:

Washington passing legislation that would allow the U.S. gov't to sue the

cartel. He noted that such a move would result in massive jumps in production,

which would provide significant headwinds to the shale industry. Tuesday also

saw the EIA release its latest crude report, with the Agency cutting its '19 &

'20 world oil demand exp., alongside a trimming of its U.S. production exp.

- Focus now turns to the DoE weekly crude inventory data, due later today.