* U.S., European equities slide, helping pressure oil
* Refined products futures slip, add to weight on crude
* Coming up: US consumer confidence data 10 am EDT Tuesday
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity, changes byline;
dateline previously LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday
following their biggest weekly gain in two months, tracking
U.S. and European equities lower as revived concerns about the
euro-zone banking sector kept uncertainty about economic
recovery and oil demand in focus.
An early push to a nearly two-week high above $77 faded
when there was no follow-through. Trading sources said weak
refined products futures helped pull crude prices back and
reflected investor worries about high U.S. petroleum
inventories.
U.S. crude for November <CLc1> delivery fell 75 cents, or
0.98 percent, to $75.74 per barrel by 1:36 p.m. EDT (1736 GMT).
It traded from $75.52 to $77.17, its highest since $77.99 on
Sept. 14 when a pipeline carrying Canadian crude oil to the
United States shut down and boosted prices.
ICE Brent November crude <LCOc1> fell 82 cents to $78.05 a
barrel.
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Reuters Insider - Credit Agricole discusses US crude oil
price outlook: http://link.reuters.com/tyq35p
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"Seems like the stock market was the driver; it turned
lower and oil did also. Crude has wanted to go lower but the
Fed, or the stock market or the dollar helped lift oil last
week, so when one of those weakens crude is a follower right
now," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, slipping after four weeks of
gains as revived concern about euro-zone debt offset optimism
about equities values resulting from a flurry of merger and
acquisition activity. []
Worries about euro-zone debt resurfaced after credit agency
Moody's slashed the rating on some lower-grade debt of Anglo
Irish Bank. []
Oil prices posted their best weekly gain in two months last
week as the dollar slumped and investors bet that the U.S.
Federal Reserve will pump billions of dollars into the
financial system to support a faltering economic recovery.
After the Fed last week indicated a willingness to support
a faltering economic recovery, the Chicago Federal Reserve on
Monday said its Midwest manufacturing index fell in August
versus July. []
Oil prices have traded largely in a range of $70 to $80 a
barrel since the beginning of May, seesawing amid mixed
economic indicators and swings on global stock markets. But the
correlation to equities markets has not been as strong
recently.
A Reuters survey of 28 analysts highlighted oil's tight
trading range as consensus forecasts for the fourth quarter of
this year and 2011 were revised slightly lower due to weak
demand from developed nations. []
The dollar's weakness provided some support for crude on
Monday as it fluctuated against the euro, while the dollar
index <.DXY> -- measuring the greenback against a basket of
currencies -- slipped. A weak dollar can lift oil prices as it
makes dollar-denominated crude oil cheaper for buyers using
other currencies.
HIGH U.S. OIL INVENTORIES
With Thursday's expiration of October refined products
contracts approaching, U.S. heating oil futures, the distillate
benchmark, fell 2.44 cents, or 1.15 percent, to $2.1062 a
gallon. October gasoline futures fell 1.64 cents, or 0.84
percent, to $1.9307 a gallon.
Crack spreads, or refiner profit margins measured against
the cost of crude oil, also slipped on Monday. The gasoline
spread fell below $5 a barrel <RB-CL1=R>, while the heating oil
spread stayed below $14 a barrel <CL-HO1=R>.
U.S. total petroleum inventories have bulged, hitting their
highest levels last week since weekly records began in 1990,
according to the Energy Information Administration. []
U.S. crude oil, total distillate and gasoline stockpiles
all remain above year-ago levels as investor focus turns to the
winter heating fuel season after the end of the summer driving
season in the United States.
(Additional reporting by Joe Brock in London and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by Jim Marshall)
