* US crude stocks fell 4.96 million barrels last week-EIA
* IMF sees no double-dip U.S. recession
* For a technical view, click []
(Updates prices, adds data, changes dateline, byline)
By Brian Ellsworth
NEW YORK, July 8 (Reuters) - Oil rose above $75 per barrel
on Thursday, supported by better-than-expected U.S. jobless
data, a rise in equities markets and a report showing a fall in
crude inventories in the United States, the world's biggest
consumer.
Crude stocks fell by 4.96 million barrels last week, a
weekly Energy Information Administration report showed, more
than analysts polled by Reuters had expected. []
"Today's data should reinforce the bullish short-term
undertone for the energy complex," said Chris Jarvis of Caprock
Risk Management in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
Oil prices rose in tandem with equities markets, on solid
earnings from key retail chains, and after U.S. Labor
Department data on Thursday showed that jobless claims fell
more than expected last week, to their lowest level in two
months. [] []
By 1:40 p.m. EST (1640 GMT), U.S. crude oil futures for
August delivery <CLc1> were up $1.33 at $75.40, paring earlier
gains but still logging the largest two-day percentage gain in
a month.
Prices rose as much as $1.83 to $75.90 a barrel earlier,
the highest intraday price since June 30.
The Dow Jones Industrial <> average was up 0.47
percent, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 0.21 percent. Rising
stock markets signal optimism about a continued economic
recovery, which would boost oil demand.
Oil prices in New York were still well below their 19-month
peak above $87 reached in early May, although they have
rebounded sharply from a trough below $65 on May 20.
Some of the bullishness in oil markets was tempered by EIA
data which also showed U.S. gasoline inventories unexpectedly
rose by 1.32 million barrels last week, although distillate
fuel stocks rose a less-than-expected 321,000 barrels.
[]
(Graphic on oil volatility: http://link.reuters.com/quq56m)
The International Monetary Fund raised its 2010 global
growth forecast on Thursday, citing an expansion in Asia and in
U.S. private sector demand. The IMF raised its 2010 global
output growth forecast to 4.6 percent from 4.2 percent after a
fall of 0.6 percent in 2009. []
The IMF said a double-dip recession was unlikely.
STORM WARNING
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said a tropical
depression headed for the western Gulf of Mexico was not likely
to become a tropical storm, following warnings the depression
could intensify. []
Tropical storms can disrupt oil production in the Gulf of
Mexico and force the closure of facilities used to import crude
oil. The inventory draw reported by the EIA was in part spurred
by Hurricane Alex, which last week battered northern Mexico.
A tropical storm warning in place for the lower Rio Grande
valley along the border was expected to be lifted later in the
day.
Oil inventories at the key U.S. Cushing, Oklahoma, crude
oil hub fell 353,762 barrels in the week to July 6 to 38.9
million barrels, figures from energy industry data provider
Genscape showed on Thursday. []
The EIA said Cushing crude stocks fell by 184,000 barrels
in the week to July 2.
Cushing is the delivery point of the NYMEX oil futures
contracts, and when inventories are high it tends to weigh on
the front months of the futures curve relative to the back.
On Wednesday, the EIA raised its 2010 world oil demand
growth forecast by 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its
previous estimate. The EIA now expects oil demand to climb by
1.56 million bpd in 2010 to 85.82 million bpd.
(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by Jim Marshall)
