* Dollar strength and falling equities hold oil down
* US oil demand hasn't recovered since financial crisis
* BP CEO sees oil trading in $60-80 range through year end
* U.S. crude prices settle down 3 cents a barrel at $73.64
(Updates with settlement prices and details.)
By Joshua Schneyer
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell for a third
day on Thursday, holding near a six-week low as a stronger
dollar curbed demand for crude and after data showed U.S. fuel
demand has not recovered from the recession.
U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1> settled down slightly,
falling 3 cents to $73.64 a barrel, after dipping to a six-week
low of $72.65 on Wednesday. Brent crude futures <LCOc1> fell 11
cents to $72.13 a barrel.
A stronger U.S. dollar and a dip in equities markets helped
push oil prices into a third day of declines. The dollar rose
to its highest level in more than six months against the euro,
which fell on concern over potential fiscal crises in European
economies including Greece and Portugal. [] []
A warning from S&P on the United Kingdom's banking system,
which the rating agency said no longer ranks among the world's
safest, added to jitters about Europe's financial system.
[]
A stronger dollar often indicates investors are funneling
cash away from riskier assets like commodities. It also can
curb demand for crude oil from buyers who hold other
currencies, since oil is priced in dollars.
Oil prices have plunged by more than $10 a barrel since
briefly rising over $84 a barrel as recently as Jan. 11, their
highest level in more than a year.
Prices are not likely to reach that high again this year,
the chief executive of oil major BP told Reuters.
"I would expect that the oil price will trade within the
current range for the remainder of this year, (at) $60-80 per
barrel," BP CEO Tony Hayward told Reuters in Davos,
Switzerland. He noted world oil demand has fallen by 2 million
barrels a day since 2007.
Fuel demand has remained weak in the United States, the
world's top consumer. Data released on Wednesday by the U.S.
Energy Information Administration showed total U.S. petroleum
product demand over the last four weeks fell 2 percent from the
same period of 2009, a sign demand is slow to recover from lows
hit during the financial crisis and recession. []
"U.S. oil demand is still contracting against a level last
year when it was at the worst of the recession," said Harry
Tchilinguirian, senior oil analyst with BNP Paribas.
U.S. crude stocks fell last week, EIA data showed, but
gasoline and distillate stocks rose even though U.S. refinery
utilization rates remained near their lowest since the 1980s.
[]
Oil prices had risen earlier Thursday, after U.S.
President Barack Obama's state of the union speech on Wednesday
night focused on U.S. job creation and not his administration's
plan to curb trading practices among banks. The speech did not
reveal specific measures that could limit oil trading.
But Thursday's U.S. economic data cast further doubt over
the pace of economic recovery. Initial U.S. jobless claims fell
less than expected last week, while durable goods orders
increased less than expected in December. []
[]
(Additional reporting by Ikuko Kurahone in London, Robert
Gibbons in New York, and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
