* ConocoPhillips refinery work lifts gasoline, crude
* Euro zone data, US jobless claims cap oil, Wall Street
* Coming up: CFTC positions data, 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose slightly on
Thursday as gasoline futures rallied on shutdowns at a key U.S.
Northeast refinery, lifting oil from earlier losses.
Trading was choppy in both the oil and equities markets
after mixed economic data.
U.S. gasoline futures led gains on news ConocoPhillips'
238,000 barrel per day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey,
had stopped processing crude and shut down some units for a
month and a half to install a new crude unit, tightening supply
in the key New York Harbor hub. []
"Crude was weighed down by the euro zone data and U.S.
jobless claims, but the products led the complex back up and
was helped by the Bayway refinery news," said Richard Ilczyszyn
senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
U.S. crude for November <CLc1> delivery rose 47 cents, or
0.62 percent, to settle at $75.18 per barrel, off a low of
$73.58, while front-month October RBOB gasoline <RBV0> rose
1.60 cents, or 0.84 percent to settle at $1.9174 a gallon.
ICE Brent crude for November <LCOc1> rose 16 cents to
settle at $78.11 a barrel.
Oil prices fell with equity markets early in the day after
data showed the pace of growth in the euro zone's services and
manufacturing sectors slowed much more than expected in
September and U.S. jobless benefit claims rose to 465,000 last
week, above a forecast 450,000. [][]
A later report showed that U.S. existing home sales rose in
August, even after the expiration of a popular tax credit for
home buyers [], but from a 13-year low in July.
Wall Street ended lower after seesawing, though gains in
tech stocks helped limit losses on the Nasdaq. []
The euro retreated from a five-month high against the
dollar, hobbled by worries about Ireland's economy and banks,
while the yen hit its lowest against the dollar since last
week's intervention by the Bank of Japan. []
"Equities and the dollar are sufficiently mixed to prevent
an out-sized move in energy. The weekly employment data was a
reality check, but it is still closer to 450,000 than 500,000,
which makes all the difference for the economic and energy
demand outlook," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital
LLC in New York.
OIL INVENTORIES STILL BULGING
A weak dollar and a possible storm threat to energy
operations in the Gulf of Mexico were not enough on Wednesday
to offset government data that showed an unexpected increase in
U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles. []
The crude oil inventory increases last week came despite
the eight-day shutdown of the biggest pipeline shipping
Canadian crude to the U.S.
"(The data) is showing that the U.S. continues to build.
There is still a huge stock overhang in the U.S. and the
situation is not improving," Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix said.
"The fundamentals per se are not bullish for oil."
On Thursday, energy industry data provider Genscape said
U.S. oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma crude oil hub
rose 198,440 barrels to 37.855 million barrels in the week to
Sept. 21. [] The Cushing hub is the delivery point
for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil.
More supportive to oil prices was the U.S. National
Hurricane Center raising to 80 percent the chance that a
tropical depression could form in the Caribbean Sea over the
next 48 hours. []
Computer models were mixed about the projected trajectory
of the system, though some showed it could threaten some
Mexican energy operations.
(Additional reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian in London and
Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
