* Greece ask financial aid from EU/IMF
* Euro bounces off one-year low against dollar on Greece
* Chinese economy to grow by almost 10 percent this year-CASS
* Coming Up: U.S. durable goods for March; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds detail)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Oil dipped towards $83.50 a
barrel on Friday as Greece's request for financial aid failed to
soothe nerves over the outlook for the beleagured eurozone
member, dampening risk appetite across markets.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Friday asked for
the activation of a euro zone and International Monetary Fund
aid package on Friday aimed at pulling the country out of a debt
crisis that has roiled markets in recent weeks.
"We still need to see how it will work," Petromatrix analyst
Olivier Jakob said. "For the moment it is actually creating
additional uncertainty for the market."
The euro firmed off a one-year low against the dollar on the
move. Strength in the U.S. currency tends to weigh on
dollar-priced commodities like oil as they become more expensive
for holders of other countries.
U.S. crude for June delivery <CLc1> fell 12 cents to $83.58
a barrel by 1115 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 dollar traded near $1.33 as the euro rose by one cent off
its earlier low. []
"Not only is all this taking a long time to play out, but it
has also been so badly handled that we seem to be witnessing a
'death by a thousand cuts'," MF Global commodities analyst
Edward Meir said.
"Amid this turmoil, we would not be surprised to see the
dollar continue to strengthen in the weeks ahead, and likely
test, and perhaps even break, the $1.30 level against the euro.
Such strength should deter any meaningful rallies in the crude
oil market."
The EU Commission said it would take some time for the Greek
aid to be triggered. []
SPRING DEMAND
Prices were supported by growing demand for oil in booming
Asian economies such as China and India. Demand is set to grow
seasonally 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.
The front-month U.S. crude contract was heading for its
first weekly increase in a fortnight, shrugging off rising
domestic stockpiles of crude and oil product inventories.
But U.S. crude was still trading almost $2 below ICE Brent
for June <LCOc1>, the benchmark for most of Europe, Africa and
Asia, which rose 18 cents to $85.85 a barrel.
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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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. []
Prices were also supported by improving business sentiment
in Germany, the world's third largest economy, with a closely
watched survey showing the brightest outlook from 7,000 firms
since May 2008. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Keiron Henderson)
