* Euro drops to one-year low against dollar on Greece
* For short-term technical outlook on oil: []
* Coming Up: U.S. durable goods for March; 1230 GMT
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Oil was steady near $84 as
expectations of rising demand buffered the negative effect on
commodities of risk aversion tied to a potential default by
Greece.
Investors sought a safe haven in the dollar, boosting it by
almost 0.5 percent on Friday against a basket of currencies and
sending the euro to a one year low. []
Although a stronger dollar usually means more expensive oil
imports for emerging nations, demand in leading Asian
economies, including China and India, remains unabated this
year and is set to grow seasonally in coming months in the
agriculture and transport sectors.
"We are going to see more demand coming in spring and
summer and that is going to push prices higher," said Peter
McGuire, managing director of Commodity Warrants Australia in
Sydney, adding that he expected oil to approach $90 in June.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> gained 5 cents to
$83.74 a barrel by 0308 GMT, after reversing a two-dollar
intra-day drop on Thursday. It was less than $4 from an
18-month high above $87 reached on April 6.
"The only thing that can bring it down is a continued
upswing of the U.S. dollar index to 84 or 85," McGuire said.
The dollar index against the currency basket was near 82 on
Friday. []
U.S. crude was heading for its first weekly increase in two
weeks, shrugging off gains in the nation's crude, gasoline and
distillate stockpiles last week.
But it was still trading almost $2 below ICE Brent for June
<LCOc1>, the benchmark for most of Europe, Africa and Asia,
which shed 3 cents to $85.64.
Most traders consider Brent better represents world oil
balances because U.S. crude prices can be locally affected by
gluts at the land-locked Cushing, Oklahoma pricing point, where
stocks jumped last week.
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For a graphic of U.S. crude and Brent futures and their
recent divergence, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/SBrb_20102204104405.jpg
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North Sea crude supplies will tighten over the next month
due to offshore equipment maintenance and Brent is also
responding to evidence of surging Chinese demand, analysts say.
[]
China's economy will probably grow by about 9.9 percent
this year, compared with a previous outlook of 9.1 percent,
according to forecasts by the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences (CASS) published on Friday. []
Sentiment towards Greece considerably soured on Thursday
after the European Union said Greece's budget deficit was worse
than feared and Moody's cut its rating of Greek government
debt.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards successfully deployed a new
speed boat capable of destroying enemy ships in war games that
began on Thursday in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for
most of the oil produced in the Middle East. []
News that U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden expected new
U.N. sanctions on Iran by late April or early May also was
supportive to oil, as was a pipeline blast in the northern
Iraqi province of Nineveh, which was likely to affect oil
exports via the Kirkuk-to-Ceyhan pipeline for as long as a
week. []
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
