Oil resumes fall towards $60 as economic woes weigh

                                
 * Oil falls again after snapping six-day slide on Thursday
                                
 * Talk of U.S. and Canada refinery shutdowns support
gasoline
                                
 By Maryelle Demongeot
                                
 SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) - Oil resumed its fall towards
$60 on Friday and looks set to end the week down around 8
percent, its largest weekly fall since late January, on
deepening economic pessimism and fears of new regulations to
curb futures speculation.
                                
  Uncertainty on earnings and economic recovery prospects
kept Japanese shares hobbled near seven-week lows on Friday,
and further pressured oil prices that briefly dipped below $60
on Thursday. [MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 Crude's small gain on Thursday put an end to six
consecutive sessions of lower settlements, the longest losing
streak since mid-December. Losses were initially triggered by
dire U.S. unemployment data the previous Thursday and kept on
the boil by a steady stream of poor economic news.
                                
  U.S. light crude for August delivery <CLc1> fell 25 cents
a barrel to $60.16 by 0322 GMT, having settled up a modest 27
cents at $60.41 on Thursday.
                                
 London Brent crude <LCOc1> lost 24 cents to $60.86.
                                
 "Yesterday's market put a stop to the big drop in prices
since last week. But there isn't any big move this morning.
Everyone has lost their way. Where is the current price?," said
Ryuichi Sato, analyst at Tokyo-based Mizuho Corporate Bank.
                                
"$50 is the bottom level but $70 is difficult to break
through due to the inventory stockpiles," he added.
                                
 Oil prices surged from lows below $34 hit in February to
more than double that level in the second quarter on optimism
that the global economy could be on the path to recovery.
                                
 But prices have fallen 18 percent since the beginning of
July from a year-high of $73.38 hit on June 30.
                                
 "With crude oil and petroleum product inventories at very
high levels, we think any near-term upside to oil prices will
be limited and we even see a temporary dip below $60/bbl," Bank
of America Securities-Merrill Lynch said in a weekly research
report.
                                
 Prices have also come under presure this week after the top
regulator of U.S. futures markets -- the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission -- said it was considering a clampdown on
excessive speculation in energy and commodity trading.
[ID:nN07310607]
                                
 "A strong incentive was created for market participants of
all types to draw back from the market, particularly from the
long side of U.S. markets," Barclays Capital said in its weekly
oil review.
                                
  Oil rose on Thursday after the Labor Department reported
the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits
fell last week, and talk of refinery shutdowns amid poor
refining margins that helped send gasoline futures up nearly 2
percent on worries of tightening supplies.
                                
 Valero Energy Corp <VLO.N> said on Thursday its
275,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Aruba has begun a planned
two- to three-month shutdown, mainly due to economic reasons.
[ID:nN09456571]
                                
 Royal Dutch Shell Plc <RDSa.L> said on Thursday it is
conducting a strategic review of its Montreal East refinery,
which may lead to a closure or sale as the industry struggles
with weak profit margins. [ID:nN09449064]
                                
 U.S. RBOB <RBQ9> settled up 3.05 cents at $1.6638 a gallon,
but resumed its fall on Friday, losing 1.13 cents by 0324 GMT.
 (Reporting by Maryelle Demongeot; Editing by Michael
Urquhart)