* Traders focus on China's export strength, demand growth
* China refined record amount of crude in May
* Coming Up: U.S. Retail sales for May; 1230 GMT
* For a technical view, click: []
(Adds China crude runs, UAE minister comments, updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Oil held above $75 on
Friday, headed for a weekly gain of about 5 percent, as
investor confidence in China's growth buffered data showing
weaker-than-expected industrial output for the country in May.
China, the world's no. 2 oil user, is driving crude demand
growth as consumption from European economies has been slow to
recover. The nation's overall exports surged 48.5 percent last
month, official data showed on Thursday. []
But statistics released on Friday showed China's industrial
output rose 16.5 percent in May, compared with expectations for
a 17.1 percent increase. []
U.S. crude for July <CLc1> declined 10 cents to $75.38 a
barrel at 0555 GMT, after settling at the highest level in four
weeks on Thursday. ICE Brent <LCOc1> fell 4 cents to $75.25.
"I wouldn't turn around and start selling," said Clarence
Chu, an energy trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.
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Friday's data also showed China's inflation accelerated in
May from a year ago to a 19-month high of 3.1 percent, while
fixed-asset investment growth moderated, sending mixed signals
about the temperature of the world's third-largest economy.
[]
"It's slightly disappointing, but I expect support around
$75. It had been a resistance level and yesterday we finally
broke through."
This week's gain for U.S. crude would be just the second
one in six, and prices remain more than 13 percent below a
19-month high above $87 reached in early May.
Oil rose above $75 on Thursday for the first time since
June 4 on strong Chinese export data and after the
International Energy Agency raised its global oil demand
forecast for 2010, citing increases in fuel use by the world's
top two oil users, the United States and China. []
OPTIMISM RE-BORN
Asian stocks rose for a fourth day on Friday on optimism
that the world economic recovery was on track despite Europe's
debt woes, following a rally in U.S. stocks of almost 3 percent
a day earlier. []
"The Chinese trade numbers really boosted sentiment among
investors and revived confidence that there will be a global
economy recovery despite the euro zone debt crisis," said
Serene Lim, a Singapore-based oil analyst at ANZ, adding that
Friday's slight decline in oil prices could be "profit taking."
China's refinery runs, or the amount of crude that the
country processes, rose 14.8 percent from a year earlier to
8.43 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, a fresh record high
and 0.7 percent above April's run rate of 8.37 million bpd,
official data showed on Friday. []
China's domestic crude oil output broke through 17 million
tonnes and 4 million bpd for the first month ever, rising 2.1
percent from April to 4.04 million bpd.
Oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, crude oil hub and
pricing point for benchmark U.S. crude rose 111,186 barrels in
the week to June 8 to a record 40 million barrels, energy
industry data provider Genscape said on Thursday.
[]
"The market is oversupplied, but not excessively so,"
United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohammed al-Hamli said on the
sidelines of a conference in Beijing on Friday.
"There is enough crude in the market; there is certainly no
shortage," said Hamli. []
A price range for oil of $70-80 per barrel was acceptable
and good for maintaining investments, the minister told
Reuters, adding that prices were reacting to other factors such
as euro zone financial troubles.
(Editing by Ed Lane)
