Market braces for fuel oil flood. (Products market).

* The continued strength of crude oil helped to underpin products prices but demand for distillates and fuel oil was limited. A flood of fuel exports and no obvious arbitrage east were expected to counterbalance any further gains.

* Stockpiling by bunker fuel blenders before the Easter holiday helped keep prices stable for high-sulphur cracked fuel oil. But European markets were bracing themselves for a flood of product out of Baltic ports from next week. Export options to the Asia-Pacific region looked unworkable, leading to expectations of heavy pressure on prices.

* In the Mediterranean prices edged up thanks to pockets of prompt demand in Maim and …