Oil prices mixed before US data

Oil prices were mixed Wednesday before the release of a key US supply report and as dealers eyed escalating violence in crude producer Libya, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery gained 25 cents to $50.77 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for April fell 48 cents to stand at $60.54 a barrel in London afternoon deals. Tetsu Emori, commodity fund manager with Astmax Investments in Tokyo, said the official US stockpiles report for last week was set to show an increase