NYMEX-Oil steady near 10-month highs on supply worries

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U.S. crude slipped 22 cents to $109.55 a barrel by 0012 GMT, while Brent declined 17 cents to $125.30.

On Friday, U.S. crude settled at $109.77 a barrel, the highest close since May 3, and up a seventh straight session, the longest string of gains since a 10-day stretch starting in late December 2009 and extending into January 2010.

Brent closed at $125.47 a barrel, the highest settlement since April 29. Friday's $125.55 peak was the highest intraday price since May 2.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Leading economies told Europe it must put up extra money to fight its debt crisis if it wants more help from the rest of the world, piling pressure on Germany to drop its opposition to a bigger European bailout.

* Saudi Arabia has raised oil exports and the United States is considering releasing crude from its strategic reserves as oil prices hit nine-month highs on Friday and concerns deepened over Iran's nuclear program.

* The United States should do more to encourage Saudi Arabia to boost its oil production to make up for lost Iranian oil, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday, urging renewed diplomacy as a way to ease the run-up in oil prices.

* Oil-producing members of the Group of 20 leading economies said on Saturday they would take measures to avoid a rise in petroleum prices from hurting the world economy, an Italian government official said.

* Vladimir Putin said Russia is concerned about the "growing threat" of an attack on Iran over its nuclear programme and warned that the consequences would be "truly catastrophic".

* Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment drive, the U.N.

"crude settled at $109.77 a barrel, the highest close since May 3, and up a seventh straight session, the longest string of gains since a 10-day stretch starting in late December 2009 and extending into January 2010.Brent closed at $125.47 a barrel, the highest settlement since April 29"nuclear agency said on Friday in a report that will further inflame Israeli fears the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with atomic bomb plans.

* At least 59 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in bloodshed that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until 2028.

* A jump in energy prices is jamming the slow-turning cogs of an economic recovery in the West, but that may be nothing compared to the economic shock an Israeli attack on Iran would cause.

MARKETS NEWS

* The yen slid to a new seven-month low against the dollar in Asia on Monday, while the euro held remarkably firm as investors continued to unwind negative bets against the single currency ahead of a fresh injection of liquidity by the ECB.

* The S&P 500 rose on Friday to close at the highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, continuing a pattern of steady gains on signs of U.S. economic recovery.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday:

- 0500 U.S. Build permits R chg mm Dec (Reporting by Manash Goswami; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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