* Chinese exports surge in May, source tells Reuters
* US crude inventories drop 1.8 million barrels - EIA
* Bernanke: Recovery appears to be on solid footing
* Coming Up: Euro zone rate decision 1145 GMT on Thursday
(Updates with post-settlement trading activity, prices)
By Gene Ramos
NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Oil settled more than 3
percent higher to top $74 on Wednesday after a report of
buoyant Chinese exports eased concerns over the pace of growth
in the world's No. 2 oil consumer and data showed a 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
fueled a rise in stock markets globally. []
Further support came after the U.S. Energy Information
Administration reported a 1.8 million barrel drop in crude
inventories, confirming an earlier report by the American
Petroleum Institute of a hefty crude draw.[]
Crude futures weakened in post-settlement trading, after
Wall Street closed lower, dragged down by BP <BP.L> and other
energy shares as the U.S. probe of the oil in the Gulf of
Mexico intensified. []
At the close of electronic trading in New York, U.S. crude
for July delivery <CLc1> last traded at $73.90 a barrel, paring
gains to $1.91. It had settled in regular hours at $74.38 a
barrel, gaining $2.39, off earlier highs of $74.96.
July ICE Brent <LCOc1> last traded up $1.50 at $73.80,
after having settled at $74.27 a barrel, up $1.97.
[]
Markets also got a lift after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke said the economic recovery appeared to be on solid
footing and while a double-dip recession "can never be entirely
ruled out," he expects the economy to continue growing.
[]
EIA REPORT
The EIA report also showed a 1.6 percent rise in U.S.
refinery utilization to 89.1 percent and a decline of 500,000
barrels in crude oil stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the physical
delivery point for U.S. crude futures.
The stock draw in Cushing, which has been holding near
record levels in recent weeks and depressing the front-end of
the U.S. oil futures curve, helped push up July U.S. crude
compared with later months.
"This was a mixed picture, with the sharper than expected
draw in crude inventories and larger than expected builds in
products," said Mike Zarembski, senior commodities analyst for
optionsXpress in Chicago.
"The draw down in Cushing was a bit of a surprise,
narrowing the contango, with July gaining on the back months
today," he added.
The overall EIA crude stock draw, however, was much
smaller than the 4.5 million barrel drawdown reported by the
API after the market closed on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gave
its verdict on the oil market in its monthly report and revised
down its 2010 global oil demand forecast by 10,000 barrels per
day to 940,000 bpd. []
BP said in its annual Statistical Review of World Energy,
released on Wednesday, that world oil demand fell 1.2 million
barrels per day in 2009, the second consecutive annual decline
and the largest drop in volume since 1982. []
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 Rebekah Kebede and Matthew Robinson
in New York, Christopher Johnson in London; and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
