Brent nudges up to near $57, set for weekly gain

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude edged up on Friday, supported by strong economic data from Germany that lifted the oil demand outlook and as worries about a quick return of Iranian supplies eased.

The rise may prove sufficient to help both Brent and U.S. crude futures post a weekly gain of more than 3 percent despite being dragged down by record levels of Saudi output and U.S. inventories earlier this week.

"The reaction was severe for one session but we appeared to strike that off," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

"That suggests the increase in supply has been priced in at current levels."

May Brent crude rose 21 cents to $56.78 a barrel by 0639 GMT, on track for its third weekly gain in four. U.S. crude for May was down 6 cents at $50.73, but front-month prices are set to rise for the fourth straight week.

Strong U.S. crude production could also soon correct as output growth slowed in March, Nomura analyst Shigeki Matsumoto said in a note, a further support to crude prices that are still down more than 50 percent from mid-June last year.

Global stock markets rose after German industrial output and trade data showed Europe's largest economy improving in February. U.S. jobless claims data also signalled a stronger labour market in the world's top oil consumer. [MKTS/GLOB]

"The manufacturing PMIs that we've seen in the last fortnight has to some extent given some comfort that the situation was not as bad as perhaps the oil market was reflecting," McCarthy said of the recent economic data indicating a better outlook for global oil demand.

Comments from Iran's top leader on Thursday also raised doubts about a deal being worked out anytime soon with world powers on its nuclear programme and an imminent return of its oil supply to global markets.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted on the same day as any final agreement, while the United States maintains its position that sanctions will only be removed gradually.

"If the agreement can be reached it's likely to take a very long time and so the possibility of Iranian oil coming back to the oil markets any time soon is not as imminent as perhaps we were pricing two weeks ago," CMC's McCarthy said.

In Yemen, crude exports will more than double this month from March despite the chaos as it diverts crude from its Aden refinery amid a worsening security situation.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue and Biju Dwarakanath)