* U.S. oil demand running 5.3 percent below year ago
* Japan's August crude imports down 5.3 percent from year
ago
* Mexico's Pemex cuts oil output by 250,000 bpd due to Ike
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Oil steadied below $106 a barrel
on Monday as falling U.S. inventories were countered by further
evidence of slowing demand in the United States, the world's
largest energy consumer.
Lingering uncertainty over the U.S. government's $700
billion bank bailout plan and worries about damage to the
economy from the credit crunch also weighed on prices, analysts
said.
U.S. light crude for November delivery <CLc1> was down 4
cents at $105.69 a barrel by 0200 GMT, after falling 88 cents
to settle at $105.73 on Wednesday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 4 cents to $102.49.
"The U.S. data points to short-term losses in refinery
output and production, while market players are taking a larger
look at demand destruction on a consumer level," Jonathan
Kornafel, Asia director of Hudson Capital Energy, said in a
note to clients.
Oil has tumbled about 25 percent since hitting record highs
of more than $147 a barrel in mid-July, dragged down by
mounting evidence that high energy costs and economic woes were
cutting global fuel consumption.
In a further sign of slackening demand, a U.S. government
report showed nationwide oil demand over the past four weeks
running 5.3 percent below last year in the midst of mounting
economic turmoil in the country.
In Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, crude oil
imports also fell 3.3 percent to 4.13 million barrels per day
in August from the same month last year, data from the Ministry
of Finance showed on Thursday. []
Still, analysts said slow recovery in oil and gas
production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, falling inventories in
the U.S. and lower OPEC supplies would continue to offer
support for prices.
Mexico is temporarily cutting its crude oil output by
250,000 barrels per day because of damage to U.S. refineries
from Hurricane Ike, state oil monopoly Pemex said on Wednesday
[]
U.S. refinery utilisation fell to the lowest level on
record in the week through Sept. 19, U.S. government data show,
reflecting shut-ins along the Gulf of Mexico caused by
Hurricane Ike this month. []
Crude stocks tumbled by 1.5 million barrels, less than
analysts' expectations for a 2-million-barrel fall, while
gasoline stocks fell for the ninth week by 5.9 million barrels
to their lowest level since 1967.
In the Gulf of Mexico, home to a quarter of U.S. oil
output, energy firms continued efforts to restart production at
refineries and pipelines after Ike battered U.S. oil
infrastructure in the biggest hit to the U.S. energy supplies
since the 2005 hurricane season.
Hurricane Ike destroyed 52 offshore platforms in the Gulf
of Mexico that produced a total of 13,300 barrels of crude oil
and 90 million cubic feet of natural gas each day, the U.S.
Mineral Management Service said on Wednesday. []
Tatsuo Kageyama, an analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in
Tokyo, said the market may soon shift its focus back to the
supply-demand fundamentals as the northern hemisphere heads
into the peak winter season.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
