* Jobless claims rise, Kuwaiti remarks weigh on U.S. oil
* Brent premium to U.S. crude hits 2-yr high
* Coming up: CFTC positions data, 3:30 p.m. EST Friday
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices and market activity)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Thursday on talk
of more OPEC output to cool prices and a rise in U.S. jobless
claims, even as tight North Sea supplies and investor momentum
helped push Brent's premium U.S. crude to a two-year peak.
Brent fell back from an intraday high of $98.95 per barrel
after U.S. jobless claims and durable goods data pointed to an
erratic economic recovery and the Kuwaiti oil company chief
said OPEC may need to boost output as high oil prices threaten
the economy. []
The head of the International Energy Agency later said he
believed Saudi Arabia's output was more than reported.
[]
In London, ICE Brent crude for March <LCOc1> fell 52 cents
to settle at $97.39 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil for March <CLc1> fell $1.69, or 1.92
percent, to settle at $85.64 a barrel, after breaking through a
technical support above $86.
"The jobless claims data raises significant doubt about the
recent embrace of the notion of strong economic recovery. The
durable goods report did not help the bullish case either,"
said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC.
"Also, with Kuwait suggesting a possible output raise, on
the heels of the recent (Saudi Arabia's oil minister) Naimi
comments, more oil will likely be hitting the market from the
OPEC -- officially or not."
Farouk al-Zanki, Kuwait Petroleum Corp's chief, told
Reuters in Davos, Switzerland, that he is concerned that
current high oil prices may contribute to the start of another
global downturn as they did in 2008. []
"If more supply would bring the price down -- then why
not?" said Zanki, adding that Kuwait is currently producing
within its OPEC quota.
Brent's flirtation with $100 a barrel has increased
pressure on OPEC to be ready with more supply to keep
high-priced oil from stalling the economic recovery.
Also in Davos, the IEA's chief Nobuo Tanaka told Reuters he
believes Saudi Arabia is pumping more oil than it reports,
while OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri, denied the
world's largest producer had raised production. []
[]
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday he
was concerned about speculation in the oil market and said OPEC
supplies could rise over time as the rate of non-OPEC supply
slowed. []
Supporting the idea of more OPEC supply forthcoming,
seaborne oil exports by OPEC, excluding Angola and Ecuador,
will rise by 330,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to Feb.
12, according to U.K. consultancy Oil Movements. []
While competing views tussled in Davos about OPEC oil
production intentions, mixed U.S. economic data contributed to
oil's weakness.
While higher U.S. pending home sales in December provided a
bright spot, initial jobless claims in the United States rose
last week, with the four-week average also up and durable goods
orders down in December. []
BRENT/WTI SPREAD AND CUSHING STOCKS
Brent found support from news that Statoil <STL.OL> reduced
rates at its 113,000-barrel per day Troll oil and gas platform
for what it said would be under a week of work, even as two
other North Sea fields resumed production. []
Ample U.S. crude stocks, including at the Cushing,
Oklahoma, hub, delivery point for U.S. benchmark West Texas
Intermediate crude, have helped boost the premium of ICE Brent
crude to WTI <CL-LCO1=R>, pushing it to more than $12 intraday
on Thursday, its highest since January 2009.
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Graphic on the U.S. crude/Brent spread:
http://link.reuters.com/tad77r
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Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma terminal rose in the week
to Jan. 21 by 862,000 barrels due to a fall in refinery
utilization and rising imports, according to Wednesday's weekly
report from the Energy Information Administration. []
Stocks up to Jan. 25 dipped by nearly 500,000 barrels,
according to mid-week data from Genscape. []
(Additional reporting by Claire Milhench in London and
Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
