* U.S. gasoline stocks down, crude stocks up
* Investors still eye Libya fighting, Mideast tension
* Goldman Sach says fundamentals don't justify price
* Coming Up: U.S. jobless claims, 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity)
By Gene Ramos
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices rose
on Wednesday, snapping two days of losses, getting a lift from
data showing U.S. gasoline stockpiles plunged last week and
from lingering worries about the Libyan conflict.
U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> settled up 86 cents at
$107.11 a barrel.
In London, Brent May crude <LCOc1> was up $1.89 to $122.81
by 2:39 p.m. EDT (1839 GMT).
U.S. gasoline inventories fell 7 million barrels last week,
the biggest weekly drop since October 1998, to 209.7 million
barrels, their lowest level since October last year, data from
the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. []
"The gasoline stocks data was really supportive today,"
said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.
The big drop in U.S. gasoline supplies came amid rising
pump prices, with last week's national average climbing to
$3.79 a gallon after crude prices rallied to 2-1/2 year highs.
Rising U.S. gasoline prices have damaged confidence in the
country's future and forced Americans to adjust spending habits
and lifestyles, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. []
U.S. crude inventories rose 1.6 million barrels to 359.3
million barrels, their sixth straight week of gains, helping
pull down crude futures briefly around midday.
That brief dip came as the dollar strengthened ahead of a
speech by U.S. President Barak Obama outlining his proposal to
cut the balooning U.S. budget deficit.
"The market seemed to take serioulsy this lurch toward
fiscal austerity from Obama. The numbers on the initial release
appeared compelling. Hence, dollar rallied a bit, pushing down
energies and precious metals," said John Kilduff, partner at
Again Capital LLC in New York.
Oil prices rose early after a two-day sell-off that was
driven by cautious comments from Goldman Sachs. The influential
bank said a robust crude rally looked overdone.
The International Energy Agency and the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries also raised a red flag on
skyrocketing prices, saying they could hurt global demand.
LIBYAN CONFLICT
The civil war in OPEC-member Libya has shut off most of its
production, which was around 1.6 million bpd before unrest
began. Rebel-controlled oil fields are pumping around 100,000
barrels per day, but only a "minimal amount" is being exported,
a rebel spokesman said on Wednesday. []
He spoke in Qatar, where talks were ongoing on Libya's
future. International powers called for the first time for
Muammar Gaddafi to step aside, but NATO members squabbled over
launching more air strikes to help topple him. []
OPEC spare capacity should be enough to cope with such an
outcome, provided the upheaval doesn't embroil other producer
nations. Saudi Arabia alone has more than 3 million bpd to
spare.
The hitherto bullish Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday that
speculators had pushed prices ahead of fundamentals of supply
and demand. [] OPEC has also repeatedly said
there is more than enough oil in the market to meet demand.
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More on Middle East unrest:[] []
Libya Graphics http://link.reuters.com/neg68r
Interactive graphic http://link.reuters.com/puk87r
For a technical chart on WTI-Brent, click:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT1/20111304101313.jpg
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(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons in New York;
Barbara Lewis in London; Florence Tan and Seng Li Peng in
Singapore and Christopher Buckley in Beijing; Editing by David
Gregorio)
