* Chinese rate increase could pressure demand -analysts
* Lack of consensus on impact of rolling French strike
* Coming Up: U.S. API weekly oil stocks to Oct 15; 2030 GMT
(Adds fresh quotes, updates prices)
By Zaida Espana and Isabel Coles
LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil future prices fell
more than $2 on Tuesday as the dollar climbed after China's
central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2007
to rein in its booming economy.
By 1413 GMT, U.S. crude for November <CLc1> fell $1.86 to
$81.22 a barrel, recovering from earlier lows to $80.64 a barrel
while ICE Brent for December <LCOc1> gave up $1.77 to $82.60 a
barrel.
Other dollar-denominated commodities such as gold <XAU=>
also fell, as a stronger greenback curbs the purchasing power of
non-dollar holders.
"(The Chinese rate move) could imply a little bit of softer
growth in commodities demand. Today is the main impact for
commodity markets," said UniCredit's Jochen Hitzfeld.
Comments on Monday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
that the United States would not engage in competitive currency
devaluation have also propelled the dollar up. []
"In the view of Chinese authorities economic activity is too
strong and they need to tighten further. They are not willing to
let the exchange rate rise considerably and have to go with the
rates," Carsten Fritsch from Commerzbank said.
Commodity analyst Edward Meir from brokerage MF Global said
the move was unlikely to have any significant short-term impact
on demand.
"It's just a first move, and likely will not have much of an
impact on underlying demand. If the authorities have to
successively raise rates, then that could be more serious," he
said.
EYE ON FRENCH STRIKES
The market was also seeking direction from a 23-day-long
strike at France's oil hub of Fos-Lavera which, together with
refinery protests, forced the country to tap emergency fuel
reserves this week. []
"Major supply disruptions historically mean higher prices --
even for crude oil when the disruption is caused by refinery
problems," Philip Wiper, an analyst at oil brokerage PVM, said.
"The French refinery strike is moving towards having a major
impact, and as we saw yesterday may just be beginning to affect
outright prices."
There was no consensus among analysts about the extent of
the impact from the French strike on feedstock crude prices.
According to Fritsch, prices could be weighed down by the
crude oversupply building up outside the port.
U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose by 1.6 million barrels
last week, a Reuters survey showed, but oil product supplies
were seen tightening due to maintenance at American refineries
and at strike-idled plants in France, according to the Reuters
poll ahead of the American Petroleum Institute's (API) weekly
supply statistics on Tuesday at 2030 GMT.
That will be followed by government statistics from the
Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore and
Dmitry Zhdannikov in London; editing by James Jukwey)
