* EIA says U.S. crude stockpiles up 4.84 mln bbls
* Brent premium to U.S. crude exceeds $10 a barrel
* Coming up: Fed statement, 2:15 p.m. EST (1915 GMT)
(Recasts, adds new byline, changes dateline previously
LONDON)
By Gene Ramos
NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude rose above $86 a
barrel on Wednesday, taking a cue from a firmer Wall Street
following President Barack Obama's call for lower corporate taxes,
which would raise profits and boost energy demand.
Investors spurned data showing U.S. crude oil stockpiles
jumped nearly 5 million barrels last week, much more than
expected and extending supply gains for a second week. []
Brent crude rallied above $97 a barrel and its premium
<CL-LCO1=R> against U.S. benchmark crude, also known as West Texas
Intermediate, soared to a 24-month high of more than $10, the
widest since January 2009.
Brent strengthened as data from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration showed crude stockpiles at the key storage hub
in Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for crude traded on the
New York Mercantile Exchange, rose 862,000 barrels last week.
"Brent and WTI have been trading increasingly as entirely
separate commodities in recent weeks, driven by decidedly
different fundamentals," said J.P. Morgan analysts in a report.
"Unsurprisingly, the main issue for the wide Brent-WTI
spread seems to lie not with Brent but rather with WTI."
U.S. crude for March delivery <CLH1> rose 54 cents to $86.73 a
barrel by 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT), rebounding after six
straights days of losses on rising inventories as well as worries
about global economic recovery.
In London, March Brent <LCOH1> gained $1.93 at $97.18.
"Prices are holding and part of that may be due to the fact
that President Obama, in his State of the Union message, had
struck a generally pro-business stance," said Phil Flynn, analyst
at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
In his address to Congress on Tuesday night, Obama had asked
lawmakers to work with him to cut the corporate tax rate and
simplify the tax code, moves that could lead to higher corporate
profits.
U.S. equities gained on positive reaction to Obama's
pro-business proposal and as investors awaited a statement from
the U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers who are concluding a two-day
meeting later in the day. []
The policymakers are expected to report an improving
economic outlook but will reaffirm a plan to buying $600
billion of government debt to help speed the economic recovery.
[]
PRODUCTS MIXED, DRIVE TO $100/BBL EBBS
Weekly U.S. government data showed a mixed picture for
refined fuels, with gasoline stocks rising more than expected,
by 2.4 million barrels, and distillates supplies down by
140,000 barrels, far less than forecast.
Overall, the data reflected a bigger increase in crude stocks
than the 2.1 million barrel build that industry group American
Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday. []
But a big disparity developed in distillates, as the API
reported a whopping 5.0 million barrel slide in that category.
Brent and U.S. crude hit more than two-year highs earlier
this month, Brent trading just 80 cents short of the $100 a
barrel milestone on Jan. 14.
The immediate risk of a breach of $100 had now receded with
prices likely to trend lower through the first quarter, said
analysts at Credit Agricole CIB and Facts Global Energy.
"I think the fall is justified by the disappearance of very
cold weather in Europe and the restart of the Alaskan pipeline
as well as signs that the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries is increasing production," said analyst
Christophe Barret at Credit Agricole.
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbbons in New York; Alex
Lawler and Emma Farge in London; Florence Tan in Singapore;
editing by Marguerita Choy)
