* U.S. crude, product inventories dropped last week -EIA
* Technicals show bear trend towards $74 []
* Coming Up: U.S. Initial jobless claims; 1230 GMT
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Oil fell for a third day on
Thursday after Enbridge said U.S. regulators have agreed to a
Friday restart of the company's biggest pipeline from Canada,
restoring crude supplies to refiners in the Midwest.
U.S. crude for October <CLc1> fell 68 cents to $75.34 a
barrel at 0304 GMT, having dropped 1 percent on Wednesday. The
contract hit a one-month high above $78 earlier this week on
concern the Enbridge outage could last until October.
"It's just unwinding from the expectation that it was going
to be blocked for some time," said Michelle Kwek, an analyst at
Informa Global Markets in Singapore.
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration agreed to the Friday restart, an Enbridge
spokeswoman said late on Wednesday, after repairs on the
pipeline were completed following a leak that forced it to shut
down nearly a week ago. []
Drops last week in petroleum stockpiles held by the U.S.,
the world's top oil consumer, did little to allay surplus
concerns, although the drawdown may have continued this week
because of the pipeline closure.
"Maybe stockpiles will be reduced by a little bit, but they
will still have oversupply," Kwek said.
U.S. crude oil inventories dropped last week by 2.49
million barrels to 357.37 million barrels, in line with
expectations, and product stocks fell, too, according to a
weekly report from the Energy Information Administration on
Wednesday. []
Distillate stocks fell 340,000 barrels, against analyst
expectations for a 300,000 barrel gain, while gasoline
inventories declined 694,000 barrels, in line with forecasts.
Inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, hub fell 581,000
barrels to 34.95 million barrels. Cushing, the delivery point
for the New York Mercantile Exchange's benchmark West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, is partly fed by the shut
Enbridge line.
ICE Brent crude for November <LCOc1>, the front month after
October's expiry on Wednesday, declined 37 cents to $79.05,
maintaining a hefty premium against front-month WTI.
"With the latest Norwegian production statistics revealing
a year-on-year fall in output in August of 417,000 barrels per
day, the heaviest fall in any month in more than three years,
combined with relatively low European crude inventories and the
dispersal of floating storage, it is not difficult to find a
set of reasons why the Brent market should be considerably
tighter than that of WTI," Barclays Capital analysts said in a
weekly report.
In other markets, the dollar posted its largest daily gain
against the yen in nearly two years as Japan began selling its
currency on foreign exchange markets on Wednesday, while global
economic uncertainties weighed on stocks. []
The yen drifted higher on Thursday as traders waited to see
if Tokyo would intervene in currency markets for a second day,
while Japanese stocks edged up to a one-month high, led by
exporters. []
Tropical Storm Karl hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on
Wednesday and could reach hurricane strength once it enters the
Gulf of Mexico, where it could swing past major Mexican oil
installations. []
(Editing by Manash Goswami)
