* NYMEX front-month March crude contract expires Monday * Oil markets eyeing French refinery workers strike NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures slipped in seesaw trading on Monday as front month March crude neared expiration and the market eyed refinery strikes in France and tensions over Iran's nuclear program. A weaker dollar also was seen as supportive to crude oil futures that were above $80 a barrel earlier on Monday and last week rose $5.68, or 7.7 percent, from the previous week, the highest one-week percentage gain for front-month crude since the week of Oct. 16, 2009, according to Reuters data. "Crude and products futures (were) marginally higher in moderate overnight volume as the market takes a breather after last week's 7.7 percent gain in NYMEX crude," Addison Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a note. The dollar was a touch lower on Monday as the effect of last week's surprise rise in a U.S. central bank lending rate faded and a slight improvement in risk appetite helped lift U.S. share prices. [USD/] PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT), expiring March crude CLH0 was down 26 cents, or 0.33 percent, at $79.55 a barrel, trading from $79.45 to $80.51. * The NYMEX April CLJ0 crude contract was down 31 cents, or 0.39 percent, at $79.75 a barrel, trading from $79.69 to $80.78. * In London, April Brent crude LCOJ0 fell 31 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $77.88 a barrel, trading from $77.85 to $78.94. * NYMEX March RBOB RBH0 rose 1.03 cents, or 0.49 percent, to $2.0960 a gallon, trading from $2.09 to $2.1275. * NYMEX March heating oil HOH0 was up 0.33 cent, or 0.16 percent, at $2.0732 a gallon, trading from $2.0690 to $2.0913. * The March/March heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $7.47 after ending at $7.12 on Friday. The March/March RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $8.44 after ending at $7.79 on Friday. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $8.52 based on the March 2015 contract Friday settlement at $88.07. The spread ended Friday at $8.26. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $76.29/$75.30 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $76.51/$81.24 NYMEX heating oil: $2.0223/$2.2447 NYMEX RBOB: $2.0075/$2.0644 For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLDE61L1PR] MARKET NEWS * France pledged to maintain fuel supplies on the sixth day of a Total (TOTF.PA) refinery workers' strike which threatens to spread to other plants. [ID:nLDE61L0LC] * A Lavera CGT union spokesman says workers at Ineos [INEOSP.UL] Lavera refinery in France voted for an open-ended strike from Wednesday. [ID:nWEB1485] * U.S. heating demand this week is expected to be 8.9 percent above normal, the National Weather Service said. Heating oil demand was seen 2.2 percent below normal. [ID:nN22188034] * Exxon Mobil Corp's (XOM.N) Beaumont, Texas, refinery shut a crude distillation unit on Friday for planned work to last "a few weeks," the company said. [ID:nWEN0468] * China processed 30.14 million tonnes of crude in January, up 29 percent from a year earlier, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said on Monday. [ID:nTOE61L03P] * India's Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.BO) made a first purchase from from ConocoPhillips (COP.N), buying Euro IV diesel, trade sources said. [ID:nSGE61L0BQ] (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)

Source