* 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 with settlement prices.)
By Joshua Schneyer
NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2 percent on
Tuesday after data showed the U.S. economy grew at a
slower-than-expected pace last quarter and ahead of weekly U.S.
inventory data expected to show crude stocks rose.
A slower recovery from the worst U.S. recession in seven
decades may hurt demand for crude. The world's largest economy
grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent last quarter, the
Commerce Department said, revising downward its earlier
estimate of 3.5 percent growth. []
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 $1.54, or 2
percent, to settle at $76.02 a barrel. In London, Brent crude
<LCOc1> settled down $1.00 at $76.46.
Data may show that U.S. crude oil and fuel stocks rose last
week, as Gulf of Mexico production recovered after a tropical
storm shut platforms in the previous week.
Crude stocks 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 a 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 in July 2008.
Prices have risen amid rallying stock markets and a weaker
U.S. dollar, which makes crude cheaper for holders of foreign
currency. The S&P 500 index <.SPX> rose into positive territory
in late trade after falling earlier Tuesday. The dollar index
[] was slightly stronger.
Global oil demand growth will outpace new oil supplies in
2010, eroding stockpiles of crude that have risen during the
economic crisis, according to a Reuters survey on Tuesday.
[]
The poll of 10 top oil-tracking analysts and organizations
forecast oil demand to rise by 1.3 million barrels per day next
year.
U.S. consumer confidence rose in November, after an
unexpected drop in October, industry group The Conference Board
said Tuesday. []
But analysts remain worried about the pace of fuel demand
recovery.
U.S. retail gasoline demand fell 1.6 percent last week
versus the previous week, and it was down 1.4 percent from the
same week of 2008, according to a report from MasterCard
SpendingPulse on Tuesday. []
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 on 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.
(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))
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