* China tops U.S. as largest energy user -IEA
* Coming Up: API U.S. inventory report; 2030 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, July 20 (Reuters) - Oil rose towards $77 on
Tuesday as forecasts for a fourth consecutive weekly drop in
U.S. crude inventories countered the negative influence of
falling stock markets in Asia.
U.S. crude for August <CLc1>, which will give way to
September as the front-month contract after it expires at the
end of Tuesday trading, rose 23 cents to $76.77 a barrel at
0258 GMT for a second straight day of gains.
ICE Brent crude for September <LCOc1> increased 21 cents to
$75.83.
Prices have been stuck in a range between $71 and $80 for
more than six weeks as volatility related to the European debt
crisis dwindled, while a tighter crude market has offset weaker
U.S. macroeconmic indicators signaling a slower global
recovery.
"I'm pretty sure you will see an increase in demand over
the next few weeks and inventories have been in decline," said
Peter McGuire, managing director at CWA Global Markets in
Sydney.
U.S. crude inventories likely fell 1 million barrels on
average last week, a Reuters survey showed on Monday, while
stockpiles of distillate fuel including heating oil and diesel,
probably rose 1.6 million barrels, extending the buildup to the
eighth straight week. []
For gasoline, stocks could have risen 1.1 million barrels
on average, the poll showed. That would be the fourth week of
gains.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will
release its inventory report for the week to July 16 on Tuesday
at 830 GMT, followed by government statistics on Wednesday.
Adding some more support for oil, a tropical wave centered
around Puerto Rico had a 20 percent chance of becoming the next
tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season in the next
two days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said late on
Monday. The season lasts from June through November.
[]
"We are talking about one of the worst hurricane seasons,
and if it's going to start, it's going to start shortly,"
McGuire said.
The Hurricane Center has forecast this year's Atlantic
storm season may be the most intense since 2005, when
hurricanes Katrina and Rita nearly paralysed the Gulf of Mexico
U.S. oil industry for weeks, helping oil prices to gain.
China overtook the United States last year to become the
world's largest energy user, the Financial Times reported on
Monday, citing the International Energy Agency. China's rise to
the top ranking was faster than had been expected in part
because the United States has outpaced China in improving
energy efficiency measures over the past decade.
But a senior Chinese official on Tuesday refuted the IEA's
conclusion that China had overtaken the U.S. []
The IEA has had a relatively high estimate of China's
energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, said Zhou
Xian, spokesperson for China's top energy agency, declining to
give alternative estimates.
Over the year, oil prices have stayed within a $23 range,
hitting a 19-month peak above $87 and a trough below $65, both
in May.
The fall in Asian stocks [] on Tuesday came after U.S.
stocks ended higher on Monday supported by earnings optimism
triggered by orders for Boeing airplanes.
But the gains were limited by a drop in U.S. housing data
showing cracks in the recovery of the world's largest economy
as well as disappointing results from Texas Instruments and
International Business Machines dragged equities lower in
after-hours trade. []
(Editing by Ed Lane)
