* IEA says not much actual oil demand recovery in OECD
* U.S. crude stocks seen up on imports despite hurricane
* Dollar stuck near 15-month lows on benign rate view
(Recasts, updates prices, adds comments from IEA)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Tuesday, but clung to
most of its previous session gains of 3 percent, hovering above
$78 a barrel, as traders took profit ahead of the release of
key U.S. indicators and a weekly fuel inventories report.
Oil prices rallied on Monday as a weaker dollar encouraged
hedging activities, while better-than-expected U.S. consumer
spending data also buoyed hopes of energy demand recovery in
the world's largest oil consumer.
But with a lengthy calendar of economic data due on
Tuesday, analysts said traders were expected to take a cautious
stance and would hesitate to drive oil prices higher despite
Asian equities hitting a 15-month high.
U.S. crude for December delivery fell 30 cents to $78.60 a
barrel by 0405 GMT. The contract settled $2.55 higher at $78.90
on Monday. London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 30 cents to $78.46.
"The guidance is really going to come from the dollar and
the bunch of U.S. economic data due later tonight," said David
Moore, a commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia.
Markets will watch for any comments on currencies when U.S.
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao make
statements, while a string of economic data from the United
States, including industrial output, producer prices and
redbook retail sales, will be at the top of traders'
watchlists.
Asian stocks rose to more than 15-month highs after U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank
was likely to hold interest rates at very low levels for some
time, keeping the dollar <.DXY> pinned near 15-month lows and
gold close to record highs. [] [] [].
Still, some analysts remain downbeat on oil prices in the
near term and cautioned that crude oil's recent rally had run
ahead of demand fundamentals.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has not seen much
recovery in actual oil demand in OECD countries and the pace of
global recovery may not justify OPEC raising production at its
next meeting, the agency's executive director said on Tuesday.
[]
"We are concerned that economic recovery expectations are
very high. While that is true in China and India, in OECD
countries like Europe and Japan, we have not seen much of an
actual recovery in oil demand," Nobuo Tanaka told Reuters on
the sidelines of an energy conference in Singapore.
Traders will also keep their eyes peeled for U.S. fuel
inventory data, with industry group American Petroleum
Institute (API) releasing its report later on Tuesday and the
government agency U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
to follow with its own figures on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week as imports
probably edged up, despite minimal disruptions in offloading
operations in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida, a preliminary
Reuters poll ahead of weekly inventory data showed on Monday.
[]
Distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel,
were forecast down 800,00 barrels on average.
While the recovery in oil demand in the world's No. 1
energy consumer appears choppy, oil use in China, the world's
second-largest oil-consuming nation, is on a gradual upswing.
Fuel stocks held by China's top two oil firms CNPC and
Sinopec Group fell for the third month in a row in October,
showing more evidence of a gradual revival in oil demand.
[]
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
