* Oil pauses near $109 as demand concerns, hurricanes
weighed
* Hurricane Ike strengthens to Category 4 storm over
Atlantic
* U.S. stock data Thursday seen showing crude build
(Updates prices)
By Chua Baizhen
SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little
changed near $109 a barrel on Thursday as traders weighed
concerns over slowing demand from major consumer countries
against further hurricane threats to the U.S. oil sector.
Prices have tumbled by more than $6 since Friday after
Hurricane Gustav, which swept through the major oil-producing
Gulf of Mexico and made landfall near New Orleans on Monday,
turned out to be less destructive than feared.
U.S. crude <CLc1> slipped 15 cents to 109.20 a barrel by
0632 GMT while London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 6 cents to
$108.00, a sixth consecutive day of losses.
Signs of slowing oil demand in the United States and other
consumer nations have helped drag oil prices well below their
peak near $150 hit in July, but many traders remain anxious
that new storms may not spare oil facilities.
"There are still concerns over supply issues. A lot of the
Gulf of Mexico capacity was shut down and some refineries are
still closed. We don't know how long they'll remain offline,"
said Gerard Rigby, an analyst at Fuel First Consulting in
Sydney.
Companies closed 14 refineries and shut in all of the 1.3
million barrels per day of oil production in the Gulf at the
peak of Gustav's impact on Monday. By Wednesday, some
refineries and offshore production were coming back online, but
other facilities remained paralysed by a lack of reliable
power. []
Forecasters expect a total of 14 to 18 tropical storms
during this year's season, which runs through November, above
the historical average of 10.
"We're still in the hurricane season after all. Gustav sort
of disappeared, but there are more hurricanes to come," said
Rigby.
On Thursday, Hurricane Ike strengthened into an "extremely
dangerous" Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic, although it is
too early to tell which land areas it will hit, the U.S.
National Hurricane Center said. []
Tropical Storm Hanna intensified to a slighter degree as it
swirled over the Bahamas toward the southeast U.S. Coast.
[]
Recent gains in the U.S. dollar also weighed on prices. The
dollar dipped against the euro on Thursday after having hit an
eight-month high a day ago, as investors trimmed positions
ahead of interest rate decisions by the European Central Bank
and Bank of England, which are expected to leave rates
unchanged.
A rush of cash from investors buying commodities as a hedge
against inflation and the weak U.S. dollar had helped send oil
up sevenfold at its peak in a six-year rally, underpinned by
surging oil demand in emerging economies such as China and
India.
But the volatile commodities market has hurt some investors
as the dollar's recovery drives commodities sharply lower.
Ospraie Management LLC said on Tuesday it would close a
flagship fund, a move which traders said could have added to
losses on commodity markets this week, although they did not
expect the impact to continue.
Focus will shift later on Thursday to the U.S. inventory
data, which will likely show crude stocks rose 200,000 barrels
last week, gasoline supplies fell 1.4 million barrels and
distillates rose 500,000 barrels, based on a Reuters
poll.[]
Any disruption caused by Gustav will not be fully reflected
in data until next week. The set of data is due a day later
than usual because of a public holiday in the United States on
Monday.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
