* U.S. crude stocks probably rose for fourth week
* French refinery strike enters seventh day
* RBOB prices on NYMEX stay near six-week highs
(Adds gasoline prices, background)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Oil fell from six-week highs
to trade around $80 on Tuesday as forecasts for higher U.S.
crude and gasoline stockpiles offset concerns that a strike at
Total's French refineries would trigger fuel shortages.
U.S. crude for April <CLc1> declined 25 cents to $80.06 a
barrel by 0555 GMT. NYMEX March futures expired on Monday
having touched $80.51, the highest intra-day price for a
front-month contract since Jan. 13 after six days of walkouts
at the French refineries. []
"The impact of the strikes will probably not be too big
because refinery utilization is still low, so I assume that
others will step in and increase their production if this is an
issue that lasts longer," said Stefan Graber, a commodities
analyst with Credit Suisse in Singapore.
"We don't see a lot of signs of an immediate pick-up in
U.S. oil consumption, so we could see more rounds of increasing
inventories."
Crude stockpiles in the United States posted a fourth
consecutive week of gains last week as imports grew, according
to a Reuters poll, while gasoline supplies probably rose for a
third week in a row. []
London ICE Brent for April <LCOc1> slid 33 cents to $78.28.
U.S. crude inventories rose 1.9 million barrels and
gasoline stockpiles added 500,000 barrels in the week ended
Feb. 19, the survey showed.
"On the fundamental side, we really didn't see a
significant improvement that would warrant a move above $80,"
Graber said. The recent price increase "has been more related
to the fact that sentiment and risk appetite have improved a
bit."
Asian shares turned lower on Tuesday and the dollar was
trapped in a tight range as investors waited for Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to shed light on how soon key
U.S. interest rates may start to rise. []
WARMER WEATHER
Recent unusually cold weather probably drained U.S.
distillate stockpiles for a fourth consecutive week.
Inventories in this category, which includes heating oil and
diesel, fell by 1.9 million barrels, the poll showed.
"The cold spell seems to be over and this could mean that
total oil consumption is not likely to pick up very strongly in
the short term," Graber added.
But warmer weather may lead to higher gasoline use in
coming weeks, JP Morgan analysts said in a weekly note.
Road travel is bound to increase in coming months in the
run-up to the northern hemisphere summer driving season from
late May through early September. Snowstorms in January and
February had snarled traffic along highways in the U.S. east
coast.
U.S. gasoline was still trading close to six-week highs on
Tuesday. The Nymex contract for March RBOB, the main component
in U.S. gasoline, rose marginally to 211.68 cents a gallon,
after hitting an intra-day high of almost 213 cents on Monday.
The industry group American Petroleum Institute will
release its weekly inventory report on Tuesday at 2130 GMT,
while the federal Energy Information Administration will follow
with weekly statistics on Wednesday 1530 GMT.
Motorists rushed to the pumps in France on Monday after a
union said the refinery workers' strike would close more than
half of France's oil refining capacity.
Total <TOTF.PA> said it would meet unions on Tuesday
morning after talks collapsed late on Sunday.
Petroleum industry body UFIP said on Monday France had
around 7 days of fuel supply left before it faced a shortage.
The CGT union said output would grind to a halt at Total's six
refineries by Tuesday.
This will cut more than 1 million barrels-per-day (bpd) in
French refinery capacity, of a total capacity of 2 million bpd,
according to Reuters calculation.
Workers at Exxon's <XOM.N> two French refineries voted to
join the action from Tuesday.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
