UPDATE 5-Oil edges higher in low volumes, eyes on Ukraine

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* Gasoline futures rise after report of refinery shutdown

* Eyes on Ukraine peace deal, Libyan ports reopening (Adds gasoline prices, updates oil prices, adds analyst)

By Sabina Zawadzki

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Crude oil strengthened slightly on Monday, with U.S. crude futures supported by positive economic data, but prices were rangebound as traders saw little news to augment their worries over tensions in Ukraine.

Gasoline futures led the U.S. oil complex with traders and analysts citing a report of an upcoming refinery shutdown on the Gulf Coast as supporting the contract.

But volumes were low in all markets as traders kept to the sidelines after the Easter holiday weekend with the London market remaining closed for Easter Monday.

U.S. crude futures jumped 30 cents a barrel after the Conference Board said its leading economic indicators, a gauge of future economic activity, rose in March.

U.S. futures eased back initially but by 12:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) they were 0.2 percent higher at $104.51 a barrel. Brent crude was 0.17 percent higher at $109.72 a barrel after rising as high as $110.19 on Thursday.

"We're following the stock market a little bit. Stocks bumped up a little bit after the LEI number and then we pulled back," said Phil Flynn, analyst with Price Futures Group.

"My feeling is that we're still concerned about Ukraine and we're still getting a little support from the economy ... But we're not up by much and volumes are still light because people are out for the holidays," he said.

The May contract for U.S. crude oil futures will expire at the end of Tuesday but analysts said they did not expect volatility stemming from a switch to the June contract.

RBOB gasoline futures rose over 1.0 percent earlier in the session but pared some gains and by 12:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) they were 0.89 percent higher at $3.0819 a gallon.

Traders cited a Bloomberg report that Motiva Enterprises will shut a crude unit later this month at its 600,000 barrel per day Port Arthur refinery in Texas, the largest in the country.

Motiva, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco, did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation or denial of the report.

"That's enough in a low volume day to make RBOB outperform the rest of the complex. All in all though, a ten-day outage in a shoulder period is not a big deal," said Addison Armstrong, senior director of market research at Tradition Energy.

EYES ON UKRAINE, LIBYA

An agreement struck by the United States, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union to end violence in Eastern Ukraine struck last week in Geneva appeared to unravel over the weekend after an attack on a checkpoint manned by separatists left three dead.

The crisis in Ukraine has led to the worst confrontation between the United States and Russia since the Cold War and has supported oil prices due to concerns over what impact any future sanctions may have in particular on oil supply.

"We may see Brent rise further by $1 to $2 a barrel if the Ukraine crisis worsens, but it will retrace as the overall market is well supplied," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager at brokerage Newedge Japan.

Investors are also keeping an eye on the resumption of shipments from Libya, where two weeks ago the government in Tripoli reached an agreement with rebels in the east to end an eight-month occupation of four oil ports.

Technical problems have delayed the reopening of one of them, Zueitina, a minister said on Sunday.

Under the plan, the Hariga and Zueitina ports were due to open immediately, while the larger Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals would resume within a month.

In other developments, Iran and world powers will begin work on drafting a long-term settlement of Iran's nuclear program in talks in New York next month, the official state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

A settlement of the decade-long dispute would be bearish for oil prices as Iran would be able to boost exports. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Manash Goswami in Singapore; Editing by Jane Baird and Tom Brown and Marguerita Choy)

FILED UNDER: Energy Industrials

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