* China raises bank reserve rate, helps curb oil prices * Middle East, N. Africa unrest supportive to oil prices * NYMEX March crude contract expiration on Tuesday NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices rose on Friday as investors eyed unrest and its threat to oil supplies in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as China's latest move to stifle inflation. ICE Brent futures slipped and its premium to its U.S. counterpart CL-LCO1=R narrowed after ending Thursday at $13.75 at settlement, off a $16.51 record high intraday. The U.S. March contract expires on Tuesday, after Monday's U.S. holiday will keep U.S. markets shut, and brokers and traders looked for some short covering ahead of the long weekend with all the turmoil in Africa and the Middle East. FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude CLH1 rose 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $86.77 a barrel at 8:49 a.m. EST (1349 GMT), trading from $85.65 to $86.88. * China raised banks' required reserves by 50 basis points, showing no let-up in a campaign to curb inflation. It was the fifth such increase since October. [ID:nTOE71H068] * Egypt's military is studying an Iranian request to send two naval warships through the Suez Canal and had been told the vessels did not carry military equipment, nuclear or chemical contents, an army statement said. [ID:nWEB0177] * Soldiers deployed in the streets of Benghazi in Libya after thousands of people demonstrated over the killing of more than 20 protesters by security forces. [ID:nLDE71H05R] * Several thousand mourners turned out in Bahrain to bury three of those killed in what the island's top Shi'ite cleric called a "massacre" ordered by the Sunni ruling family to crush protests. [ID:nLDE71H01C] * Several anti-government protesters were killed in the Yemeni city of Aden, according to Al Jazeera television. [ID:nLDE71H1FD] * TAKE A LOOK-G20 financial leaders meet in Paris: The world's major economies were split down the middle over how to measure imbalances in the global economy to help avert future financial crises, Japan's finance minister said, but negotiators said a compromise was possible. [ID:nLDE71D100] * Germany's Federal Statistics office reported its January Producer Price Index rose 1.2 percent from December and 5.7 percent year to year, the strongest year-on-year increase since October 2008. PPI ex-energy rose 0.6 percent in Jan. [ID:nBZNHDE77O] MARKET NEWS * The euro turned positive on the day on Friday, with traders citing a Bloomberg report quoting European Central Bank official Lorenzo Bini Smaghi saying the central bank may tighten policy as price pressures mount. [USD/] * World shares fell back from fresh 30-month highs against a background of rising oil prices and a new attempt overnight by China to curb inflation pressures by raising reserves that lenders are required to hold. [MKTS/GLOB] * Gold hit five-week highs in Europe and silver rose to its loftiest since 1980 as the Middle East unrest bolstered safe-haven interest in precious metals, though the tightening of lender reserves by China curbed gains. [GOL/] * Copper eased with prices showing some signs of fatigue after this week's run to a record high, with rising stocks also pressuring the red metal although the longer-term outlook remained positive. [MET/L] UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS * U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission positions data at 3:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Friday. * NYMEX March crude contract expiration on Tuesday. 8:49 LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL CLc1 86.77 0.41 0.5% 85.65 86.88 18,365 297,660 CLc2 89.60 0.76 0.9% 88.43 89.65 46,751 254,054 LCOc1 102.29 -0.30 -0.3% 101.73 103.50 71,033 210,884 RBc1 2.5308 0.0031 0.1% 2.5148 2.5360 2,501 42,793 RBc2 2.6650 -0.0010 0.0% 2.6521 2.6774 3,327 40,554 HOc1 2.7173 -0.0151 -0.6% 2.7029 2.7495 3,959 45,859 HOc2 2.7262 -0.0147 -0.5% 2.7127 2.7581 4,263 35,888 * NYMEX crude oil for March CLc1 rose 41 cents to $86.77 a barrel by 8:49 a.m. in volume of 18,365 lots. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)

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