* China exports jump 48.5 pct in May, official data show
* IEA raises oil demand growth forecast for 2010
* For a technical view, click: []
* Coming Up: euro zone rate decision at 1145 GMT
(Updates throughout, changes dateline, pvs SINGAPORE)
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Oil climbed further above $74
per barrel on Thursday after news of a surge in Chinese exports
in May and as the IEA revised up its estimate of global oil
demand growth for this year.
China's exports rose 48.5 percent in May from a year
earlier, beating forecasts of a 32 percent gain and confirming a
Reuters report on Wednesday, which helped send oil up more than
3 percent. []
U.S. crude for July <CLc1> rose 20 cents to $74.58 a barrel
by 0850 GMT. ICE Brent <LCOc1> lost 9 cents to $74.18.
Asian stocks extended gains on Thursday on the strong
Chinese data, which investors hope will ease fears about a
slowdown in Europe. []
European equity markets were also stronger. []
Support for oil prices came from the International Energy
Agency (IEA), which on Thursday revised up its estimate of
global oil demand growth this year due to increased fuel use in
the United States. []
The IEA raised its global oil demand growth forecast by
70,000 barrels per day to 1.68 million bpd and said oil demand
this year will hit 86.44 million barrels per day (bpd), up from
84.76 million bpd in 2009.
U.S. DEMAND
David Fyfe, head of the IEA's Oil Industry and Markets
Division, said the upward revision was a response to further
signs of a recovery in economic activity.
"The demand revision was a quite a minor one, but it was
based on stronger demand for middle distillates in the United
States," Fyfe said.
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To see a Reuters Insider TV interview with the IEA's David
Fyfe, click: http://link.reuters.com/pub29k
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Much of the global growth this year has been coming from
China but some economists question whether the momentum there
can be sustained given debt problems in Europe, the country's
biggest overseas market.
Leaked numbers cited by four separate market sources on
Thursday pointed to an increase in Chinese industrial output of
16.5 percent in May from a year earlier, lower than expected.
[]
China's May crude oil imports rose 4.3 percent from a year
ago, but were off a record high hit in April. []
U.S. crude has recovered almost $10 from below $65 on May
20, but is still down 15 percent from a 19-month peak on May 3.
U.S. crude stocks last week dropped a larger-than-expected
1.8 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
said on Wednesday. []
That was the same amount by which stockpiles of distillates
including heating oil and diesel increased as distillate demand
slowed, showing a gain of 9.3 percent in the four weeks ended
June 4, compared to 17 percent in the four weeks to May 28.
U.S. gasoline supplies were little changed last week, the
EIA said.
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For a graphic showing the evolution of global crude and oil
products in floating storage:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/OIL_FLTS0610.gif
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(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by William Hardy)
