* First storm of Atlantic hurricane season may be developing
* Coming Up: U.S. GDP Q1 final; 1230 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
(Adds hurricane season outlook, updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, June 25 (Reuters) - Oil slipped on Friday,
heading for a weekly drop of 1.2 percent, as falling Asian
equity markets tempered an early boost from indications that
the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season might be
developing.
Asian stocks slid on Friday for a fourth straight session,
driven by expectations of tighter financial regulation and
uncertainty about the global economic recovery ahead of the
weekend G20 meeting. Concerns about the Greek debt crisis had
also sent Wall Street lower on Thursday. [][]
"Overall the market is still caught in a tight range
between $70 and $80 and I don't see any reason to break that
range, just like the stock market," said Keichi Sano, general
manager of research at SCM Securities in Tokyo.
U.S. crude for August <CLc1> shed 23 cents to $76.28 a
barrel at 0715 GMT, heading for the first weekly decline in
three weeks. Still, prices are up 18 percent from a trough
below $65 on May 20. ICE Brent for August <LCOc1> fell 32 cents
to $76.15.
"The U.S. economic data is not so good for the last couple
of days, so that is a bearish factor," Sano said.
U.S. durable goods orders reported Thursday were not robust
enough to dispel doubts about the U.S. economy or the negative
effect of the Federal Reserve's cautious outlook on growth.
[]
SEASON'S FIRST STORM
The U.S. National Hurricane Center late on Thursday said
that a weather system headed towards the Gulf of Mexico may
develop into a tropical cyclone, assigning a probability of 60
percent for it to reach that status in the next two days, up
from 40 percent earlier.
Weather models project the system will cross Mexico's
Yucatan Peninsula from the Caribbean over the next few days,
re-emerging in the gulf, where both Mexican and U.S. offshore
oil production facilities are concentrated. []
Most forecasts expect the weather system to hit the coast
near the Texas-Mexico border, with Mexican oil fields producing
more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) near its path.
But some models expect the wave to turn towards Florida and
the eastern Gulf of Mexico, closer to U.S. offshore production
and where BP Plc <BP.L> is trying to clean up the biggest oil
spill in U.S. history. The tropical depression would be named
Alex.
"If a hurricane comes in line like Katrina and Rita, then
that would be a big problem," Sano said, referring to the two
2005 hurricanes which virtually paralysed the U.S. gulf
industry for weeks.
"If the hurricane hits refineries, that would cause
shutdowns and lower utilisation rates and that could naturally
cause higher product prices."
For a graphic on U.S. offshore oil output in the Gulf of
Mexico:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/US_OFSHRD0610.gif
The Atlantic storm season may be the most intense since
2005, the U.S. government's top weather agency said last month.
In its first outlook for the storm season that runs from
June through November, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration forecast 14 to 23 named storms, with 8 to 14
developing into hurricanes, nearly matching 2005's record of
15. []
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
