* U.S. 3rd-Qtr GDP estimate reduced to 2.8 percent
* Weekly US data to show rising crude, product stocks-poll
* Oil demand to grow faster than supply in 2010-poll (Adds details, updates prices)
By Joshua Schneyer
NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell below $76 a barrel on Tuesday after data showed the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace last quarter and on expectations weekly U.S. inventory data would show an increase in crude stocks.
A sluggish recovery from the worst U.S. recession in seven decades may hurt demand for crude. The world's largest economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.8 percent last quarter, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday, revising downward an earlier estimate of 3.5 percent growth in gross domestic product. [
]Consumer spending, which typically accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, also lagged behind estimates last month, the Commerce Department said.
"We don't like the GDP figures, and we're worried about a potential build in crude stocks," said Tim Evans, oil analyst with Citi Futures Perspective in New York. "Consumer spending is weaker than expected -- and that's where we hoped to see a pickup in petroleum demand."
U.S. crude for January delivery <CLc1> fell $1.63 to $75.93 per barrel by 1:41 p.m. EST (1841 GMT). Oil prices had risen slightly on Monday. In London, Brent crude <LCOc1> was down $1.13 cents at $76.33.
Data is likely to show that U.S. crude oil and fuel stocks rose last week, as Gulf of Mexico production rebounded after Tropical Storm Ida shut some platforms in the previous week, according to an expanded Reuters poll of analysts.
Crude inventories likely rose 1.2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 20, while stocks of gasoline likely rose slightly and distillates fell slightly, according to the average analyst estimate in the Reuters poll. [
]Inventory data from the private industry group American Petroleum Institute was due at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) Tuesday, followed by official data from the Department of Energy early Wednesday.
Oil prices have risen from below $33 a barrel last December, although they are still around 48 percent lower than a record above $147 reached last July.
Prices have risen amid rallying stock markets and a weaker U.S. dollar, which makes the commodity cheaper for holders of foreign currency. U.S. stocks mostly fell on Tuesday, while the dollar edged higher against a basket of foreign currencies. [
][ ]Growing oil demand will outpace the rate of new oil supplies in 2010, eroding global stockpiles of crude, which have mounted during the economic crisis, according to a Reuters survey on Tuesday. [
]The poll of 10 top oil-tracking analysts and organizations predicted oil demand would rise by 1.3 million barrels per day next year.
U.S. consumer confidence rose in November, after an unexpected drop in October, The Conference Board, an industry group, said Tuesday. [
]Analysts remain worried about the pace of fuel demand recovery. On Nov. 20, top independent U.S. refiner Valero Corp <VLO.N> said it would permanently shut its 210,000-barrel-a-day Delaware City plant.
"The Valero closure is a big red flag that says 'We're struggling and demand is bad,'" Evans said.
OPEC, the exporters' group that pumps one in three barrels of oil worldwide, must be careful not to collapse oil prices by oversupplying the market, Nigerian Oil Minister Rilwanu Lukman told reporters in Washington Tuesday. [
]Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries next meet to discuss output policy in Angola on Dec. 22. The group has not changed its production targets this year, since it agreed to trim supplies by 4.2 million barrels a day. (Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London and Robert Gibbons in New York; Editing by Walter Bagley) ((Email: joshua.schneyer@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6051; Reuters Messaging: joshua.schneyer.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here [
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