* Chinese exports surge in May, source tells Reuters
* U.S. crude oil inventories drop 4.5 million barrels - API
* For a technical view, click: []
* Coming Up: EIA inventory report; 1430 GMT
(Updates throughout)
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than $2 to around
$74 on Wednesday after a report of buoyant Chinese exports eased
concerns over the pace of Chinese growth and industry data
showed a hefty drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.
Chinese exports grew about 50 percent from a year earlier in
May, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, in a sign the economy of
the second-largest oil user was roaring ahead. []
The export figure in the Reuters report, which came ahead of
Thursday's official release, far exceeded expectations and
fuelled a rise in stock markets globally. []
Adding to the picture of rising oil demand, U.S. crude
inventories fell 4.5 million barrels last week, the American
Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday after the close of
trade, more than four times as much as expected. []
U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1> jumped to a high of
$74.18 per barrel, up $2.19, by 1335 GMT. The contract was still
down around 0.5 percent so far this month after an almost 14
percent decline in May. July ICE Brent <LCOc1> was trading up
$1.60 at $73.90.
"The dollar is down, equities are up and financial market
sentiment seems to be improving today," said Carsten Fritsch,
analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"The Chinese figures are a positive support, adding extra
confidence," he said. "The API report of a big draw in crude oil
stocks is also lending some support."
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For a graphic on the correlation between oil and equities:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/NT_20100906115841.jpg
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OPEC REPORT
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will publish more
closely watched government statistics on oil inventories and
demand on Wednesday at 1430 GMT. []
The drop in U.S. crude inventories reported by the API was
matched by an equivalent increase in product supplies.
Gasoline stocks posted an unexpected increase of 1.5 million
barrels and distillates, including heating oil and diesel,
logged a larger-than-forecast gain of 3 million barrels.
An expanded Reuters poll of analysts said crude inventories
probably fell 900,000 barrels on average in the week to June 4.
The monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries, which pumps more than one in every three
barrels of oil, said world oil demand would rise by 940,000
barrels per day (bpd) in 2010, 10,000 bpd lower than previously
forecast. []
BP <BP.L> said in its annual Statistical Review of World
Energy, also released on Wednesday, that world oil consumption
fell 1.2 million barrels per day in 2009, the second consecutive
annual decline and the largest drop in volume since 1982.
[]
World oil production dropped by 2 million bpd, or 2.6
percent, which was also the largest decline since 1982, BP said.
But demand in Asia is still robust and many analysts expect
consumption in countries such as China and India to bolster
global energy markets in future.
Chinese trade data for May, including oil statistics, will
be published on Thursday, followed by industrial production for
the same month on Friday, with growth forecast at 17.1 percent
in a Reuters survey, down from a 17.8 percent gain in April.
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Keiron Henderson)
