* U.S. crude and Brent above $80 for whole of April
* U.S. economic growth slows in Q1 but spending jumps
* Coming up: US personal income for March 1230 GMT Monday
(Updates prices, market activity, oil spill impact, changes
byline, previous LONDON))
By Gene Ramos
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Friday and was on
track for a third-straight monthly gain as higher economic growth in
the United States and hopes of a bailout to help Greece avoid debt
default sparked more risk-taking.
Benchmark U.S. crude futures have risen about 2.5 percent
for the month, despite bulging U.S. oil inventories.
Oil investors were heartened as the first quarter U.S. economic
expansion growth data featured consumer spending at the fastest pace
in three years. []
"The GDP report was perfect in that it supports the view of
stronger oil demand going forward," said Phil Flynn, analyst,
PFGBest Research Chicago.
U.S. crude for June <CLc1> gained 69 cents to $85.86 a
barrel by 2:05 p.m. EDT (1550 GMT) after hitting an intraday
high of $86.17, not far below an 18-month high of $87.09 hit on
April 6. April is set to be the first month since September
2008 when the front-month contract has traded continuously
above $80 a barrel.
ICE Brent crude for June <LCOc1> rose 38 cents to $87.28,
trading about $1.40 above U.S. benchmark futures, also known as
West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI traded at discounts of more
than $3 to Brent earlier this week under pressure from soaring
inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for crude
oil traded at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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For a graphic of U.S. crude and Brent prices and the U.S.
dollar index <.DXY>, click on: http://link.reuters.com/dyw22k
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OIL SLICK IMPACT
An expanding oil slick from a leaking U.S. Gulf of Mexico
oil well is beginning to affect oil prices.
U.S. crude oil imports may slow as oil tanker traffic is
delayed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, investment bank Goldman
Sachs said in a note to clients.
That could narrow spreads between U.S. crude futures <CLc1>
and European Brent futures <LCOc1>, as well as narrow the
discount for prompt delivery barrels in U.S. markets, the note
said.
Indeed, "both WTI timespreads and the WTI-Brent spread
tightened substantially on news that waterways surrounding the
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) could be blocked by the
spill as early as Friday, and traffic of oil service boats and
oil tankers through the Gulf will likely be slowed," it said.
Earlier, Olivier Jakob, consultant at Petromatrix said
that the oil spill could be a supportive factor for U.S. crude
futures but negative for Brent if it began to disrupt oil
imports in the U.S. Gulf.
"That would result in crude oil stock draws in the United
States and the backed-up crude oil would force some redirection
of barrels towards Europe, which would then pressure the Brent
timespreads lower and force Brent back to a discount to WTI."
U.S. gross domestic product expanded by 3.2 percent in the first
quarter, the Commerce Department said in its first estimate, marking
three straight quarters of growth after the worst recession since
the 1930s.
Consumer spending, which normally accounts for about 70
percent of U.S. economic activity, added nearly 2.6 percentage
points to the GDP growth, which, however, was lower than
expected.
Greece is preparing severe austerity measures to secure an
aid package, easing fears the debt crisis will spread across
Europe, and boosting the euro. [] []
Euro zone finance ministers will meet on Sunday to discuss
Greece and will hold a news conference afterward. A spokesman
said the group would likely give a figure for the euro
zone-International Monetary Fund loans through 2012 for Greece.
[]
(Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London; Joshua
Scheneyer in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
