Oil falls below $67 on econ woes; US crude stocks up

                                
 * Extends falls on econ worries, high U.S. inventories
                                
 * API data shows surprise 4.1 million-barrel crude stock
rise
                                
 * EIA figures due later to show a 1.3 million bbl draw-poll
                                
 By Ramthan Hussein
                                
 SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) - Oil slid below $67 a barrel
on Wednesday, extending losses from the more than $1 retreat
the day before, on renewed concerns over the U.S. economy after
a drop in consumer confidence and bearish API crude data.
                                
 The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that U.S.
crude oil stockpiles jumped 4.1 million barrels last week,
countering analysts' expectations for a 1.3 million-barrel
draw, as imports rose and refiners slowed their processing
rates. [ID:nN28330259]
                                
 But traders are looking more towards data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA), due later at 1430 GMT,
in which a Reuters poll forecast a 1.3 million-barrel decline
in crude inventories instead, as lower imports offset tepid
refinery demand. [EIA/S]
                                
 The survey also showed a 400,000-barrel rise in gasoline
stocks and a 1.3 million-barrel increase in distillates.
                                
 "The API data tends to be skewed," said Mark Pervan, head
of Commodity Research at ANZ Bank.
                                
 "The DOE is expecting a drop in crude supplies. But the API
data is the latest indicator of weak demand. Overall, the crude
stock level is too high for this time of year."
                                
 U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 44 cents to $66.79 a barrel by 0252
GMT, after settling $1.15 lower on Tuesday, after the U.S.
consumer confidence index dropped below analysts' expectations,
recording its second-straight decline as sentiment remained
dampened by a difficult job market. [ID:nN28130084]
                                
 London Brent <LCOc1> shed 11 cents to $69.77 a barrel.
                                
 Equities markets in Asia, which had rallied for over a
week, were mixed in early trade, with Hong Kong stocks <.HSI>
falling but Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> barely up, after
disappointing corporate earnings results pushed down U.S.
markets [.N].
                                
 "The oil market declined because of the equities market.
But that's a fickle strategy to use, and the underlying
demand-supply fundamentals are being pushed aside," said
Pervan.
                                
 Hopes that a recovery in the global economy could lift
slumping fuel demand has propped up crude prices this year, but
analysts said the inconsistent show of U.S. economic data is a
timely reminder that the world is barely emerging from
recession.
                                
 Crude fell from records near $150 a barrel last July to
below $33 in December, as the recession battered world
consumption, before recovering to near $70 recently.
                                
 Stubbornly weak demand, especially for distillates, has hit
profits for refiners in Asia and the West, forcing them to rein
in output.
                                
 Leading U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp <VLO.N> would run
its 16 plants at 78 percent of capacity in the third quarter.
[ID:nN28147582] And Mexican oil producer Pemex said lower crude
prices and export volumes battered its sales and squeezed
profits. [ID:nN28205322]
 (Editing by Ben Tan)