* U.S. crude, gasoline stocks fall more than expected
* Dollar rise, Wall St. dip curbs oil strength
* Coming up: U.S. payrolls data on Friday
(Recasts to update prices, changes byline and dateline from previous
LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures edged up but were
off highs in volatile trading on Thursday, supported by lower inventory
data even as a stronger dollar and a Wall Street slip limited gains.
"There are so many different influences on oil right now
that the market can't decide whether it is dealing with an
investment asset class or a commodity," said Peter Beutel,
analyst at Cameron Hanover.
U.S. crude for July <CLc1> was up 20 cents at $73.06 a
barrel at 1:33 p.m. EDT (1733 GMT), having seesawed between
$72.32 and $74.40. ICE Brent <LCOc1> rose 80 cents to $74.55.
Crude futures staged a rally after the U.S. Energy Information
Administration said crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week
[], far more than the consensus expectation for a 100,000 barrel dip.
But traders noted the EIA-related rally did not reach the
$74.40 peak hit prior to the report.
"The draws in gasoline and crude really stand out right
away, which helps boost that market right back up above $73 a
barrel," Tradition Energy analyst Gene McGillian said.
"The real question will come here whether we can get
through that resistance level of $74.50-$75 a barrel."
Gasoline inventories also fell sharply, sliding 2.6 million
barrels, the EIA said. Expectations were for a 500,000 barrel
fall. Distillates rose slightly more than expected and refinery
capacity use fell.
The U.S. dollar firming against the euro <EUR=> limited oil's rise.
[] The dollar's rise was being attributed to bets for stronger U.S.
payroll data on Friday.
Dollar strength makes dollar-priced commodities more
expensive for holders of other currencies and can redirect
investment into foreign exchange trading.
Crude prices had been supported by firm equity markets,
before lackluster retail sales data in the United States offset
some of the positive signs on the employment front and put Wall
Street into negative territory. []
Graphic:http://link.reuters.com/ruv97k
Oil Movements estimated seaborne oil exports by OPEC, excluding Angola
and Ecuador, will rise in the four weeks to June 19. []
OPEC's compliance with promised cutbacks has fallen to 51 percent,
according to Reuters estimates. []
Data from the EIA showed inventories at the key Cushing,
Oklahoma, U.S. crude oil hub rose last week to match a record
high reached two weeks ago, while industry data provider Genscape said
supplies were little changed in the week to June 1.
The rise in Cushing stocks reported by EIA, after the
previous report's stockpile slip, helped the deficit of
front-month U.S. crude futures and the following month <CL-1=R>
grow to more than $1.70 a barrel in afternoon trading in New
York.
VOLATILE WEEK
Concern about a slowdown in China's economic growth weighed
on oil prices earlier this week, hitting sentiment already
battered by Europe's debt crisis.
Oil prices have traded in a range between $71.64 and $75.33
since Monday, torn between evidence that the world's biggest
oil-consuming nations are posting steady growth in demand and
speculation that consumption will be hurt by a stagnant
European economy.
"Crude demand will ease slightly ahead of the seasonal
pick-up in the second half of this year, but we remain
confident it will still grow strongly in 2010," VTB Capital
analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.
(Additional reporting by the New York Energy Desk, David Sheppard in
London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)
