* Cushing crude stockpiles fall from record -API
* Coming up: EIA inventory statistics; 1430 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
* TAKE A LOOK at the Reuters Energy Summit:
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(Adds EIA long-term outlook, Japanese gasoline stocks)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil rose to hold above $69 on
Wednesday after a report showing a drop in U.S. gasoline
stockpiles signalled a glut centred on the world's top consumer
will ease as motor fuel demand reaches its summer peak.
Prices slumped more than 2 percent on Monday after
investors shunned riskier assets, seeking the relative safety
of the dollar and gold as concern spread about the health of
European banks and tension between North and South Korea
escalated.
But a late rebound in U.S. equity markets on Tuesday lifted
sentiment in the oil market, aided by a larger-than-expected
decline of 3.2 million barrels in U.S. gasoline stockpiles last
week, reported by the American Petroleum Institute.
Crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the pricing point
for U.S. crude, fell from record levels, the API said.
U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1> climbed as much as
$1.38 to $70.13 a barrel and was up 71 cents at $69.46 at 0452
GMT, still down 20 percent from its early-May 19-month high
above $87.
"Although Cushing is still at a very high level, stocks
will stop increasing," said Keichi Sano, general manager of
research at SCM Securities in Tokyo.
"The point is that the U.S. economy is not too bad. The
sentiment of the market is too bearish due to EU problems and
that affects people's attitude to take on risk. But it's
already factored into the price, and $70 will be good support
this time."
ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> gained 45 cents to $70, after
falling below that level for the first time since February on
Tuesday. That was less than $1 higher than front-month U.S.
crude, reducing its premium from about $6 earlier this month.
A stabilisation of prices at or above $70 a would likely
spare the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries the
need to convene an emergency meeting to discuss supply policy.
Gulf oil ministers on Tuesday played down the slide in oil
prices to below that level. []
GASOLINE USE TO RISE
The oil market also focused on gains in Asian stock markets
on Wednesday, which edged up from nine-month lows as value
investors hunted for bargains. Crude shrugged off the euro's
decline, rising despite the dollar being unchanged against a
basket of currencies. []
The U.S. driving season, when gasoline demand peaks as
summer vacationers take to the roads, runs from the Memorial
Day holiday in late May to the Labour Day holiday in early
September.
U.S. refineries are also cranking up operations as they
return from spring maintenance, absorbing larger volumes of
crude.
Analysts had expected U.S. gasoline stockpiles to have
declined by just 200,000 barrels, the average of a Reuters poll
showed. Government statistics from the Energy Information
Administration will follow on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.
The API said distillates including heating oil and diesel
rose by 1.5 million barrels versus expectations of no change,
while the nation's crude stockpiles rose 616,000 barrels. At
Cushing, stocks fell 772,000 barrels from a record 37.99
million. []
World oil demand will continue to grow through 2030, but
demand that year will be about 2.5 percent less than previously
thought due to use of renewables and higher oil prices, the EIA
said in an annual long-term forecast on Tuesday.
[]
Global oil demand will average 103.9 million barrels per
day in 2030, down from the agency's 106.6 million bpd demand
estimate in last year's outlook.
Japan's gasoline inventories rose 1.5 percent week-on-week
to hit an 11-year high last week, industry data showed on
Wednesday, with market players anticipating that motor fuel
sales declined. []
(Editing by Ed Lane, Himani Sarkar)
