* Oil rises as U.S. crude, fuel stocks fall
* U.S. drivers cut back on driving by 4.7 percent in June
* Market eyes Georgia disruptions
(Updates prices)
NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Oil rose nearly $4 a barrel on
Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed declines in
fuel and crude inventories in the world's top consumer.
U.S. crude <CLc1> traded up $3.87 to $116.88 a barrel by
1:35 p.m. EDT (1735 GMT) after demand concerns sent prices down
to a three-month low of $112.31 during intraday activity on
Tuesday. London Brent <LCOc1> rose $3.40 to $114.55.
U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 6.4 million barrels in the
week to Aug. 8 as refinery throughput decreased, the Energy
Information Administration said, more than the
2.1-million-barrel decline analysts expected. []
Crude stocks fell by 400,000 barrels, the EIA data showed,
while distillates inventories unexpectedly decreased. The
inventory drawdowns came after companies shut U.S. Gulf Coast
facilities due to Tropical Storm Edouard.
"(The) draws are bullish across the board. Lower refinery
output and lower imports led to the draws in the products for
the past week," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures
Perspective in New York.
Weakening demand due to economic slowdowns in the United
States and other leading consumer markets have weighed on oil,
which has fallen sharply since reaching an all-time high of
$147.27 on July 11.
Americans drove 4.7 percent fewer miles in June than they
did a year ago as drivers cut back on trips due to high
gasoline prices, the U.S. Transportation Department said
Wednesday. []
U.S. oil demand fell by an average 800,000 barrels per day
(bpd) year on year during the first half of 2008, marking the
sharpest fall in 26 years, the EIA said on Tuesday.
[]
Growth in emerging economies including China and India has
sent oil demand surging over the past six years, sending crude
up sevenfold at its peak. Additional support earlier this year
came as investors rushed into commodities to hedge against
inflation and the weaker dollar.
Support this week has also come from hostilities between
Russia and Georgia, a key alternative supply route for oil and
gas from the Caspian to Europe.
Georgia accused Russia of breaking a cease-fire in their
six-day-old conflict on Wednesday and U.S. President George W.
Bush demanded Moscow act to resolve a crisis that has strained
relations with the United States. []
"I think concerns over the Georgian situation raised by
President George W. Bush, technical buy stops and the stock
draws on oil and products are combining to push crude futures
higher," said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading.
BP <BP.L> closed an oil pipeline and a natural gas pipeline
running from its Caspian Sea fields through Georgia but said
neither had been damaged.
A third BP pipeline that runs through Georgia, the
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, was shut last week following
an explosion in Turkey.
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson, Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons
in New York; Alastair Sharp, Ikuko Kao and Alex Lawler in
London; Chua Baizhen in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
