* Coming up: EIA U.S. oil stock figures, 1430 GMT
* Tuesday's API data show fall in crude stocks
* Traders say low U.S. crude price is finding floor
(Adds European information and comment, updates prices)
By David Turner
LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Crude bounced from a seven-week
low on Wednesday as investors looked for relief in U.S. oil
inventory numbers due later in the day, heartened by separate
Tuesday figures indicating a fall in crude stocks.
Analysts say Tuesday's 1.8 million barrel drop in U.S. crude
inventories from the American Petroleum Institute could be
confirmed by parallel data on stocks to be published at 1430 GMT
by the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration.
Traders said oil, whose price has fallen sharply since early
August, might also have been oversold.
"The API stats yesterday showed a drawdown in U.S. crude
inventories, which made people less convinced that the consensus
for crude inventory building holds," said Andy Sommer of energy
trading firm EGL in Switzerland. "I think people are now going
into a wait and see stance for the EIA numbers." []
Sommer added: "With the price around $70, $72, $75, it will
be harder especially for more expensive oil producers to produce
economically, and that will provide a kind of floor for oil
prices."
U.S. crude <CLc1> for October delivery was up 57 cents on
the day to $72.20 a barrel by 0836 GMT. It recovered after
trading as low as $71.32 earlier in the day -- an exact repeat
of Tuesday's trough, which was the lowest intraday price since
July 6.
October ICE Brent <LCOc1> rose 73 cents to $73.11 a barrel.
Oil markets bucked the recent trend by rising despite equity
markets' poor showing. Asian shares fell sharply on Wednesday,
including a 1.7 percent decline in the Nikkei 225, though
European shares were little changed in early trading. <>
[] <> []
Nevertheless, analysts say that oil currently needs major
news such as the inventory figures to prevent a move in line
with equities, since the two markets remain highly positively
correlated.
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For a graphic on oil's correlation with equities, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx1/DTR_20102508083111.jpg
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CRUDE INVENTORIES
U.S. crude stocks posted a surprise drop in the week ended
Aug 20, according to a weekly report from the American Petroleum
Institute late on Tuesday. Forecasts for Wednesday's EIA figures
are for a 200,000-barrel gain, a Reuters poll showed. []
But U.S. gasoline stockpiles unexpectedly rose by almost
700,000 barrels last week, the API said, while inventories of
distillate fuel, including diesel, increased by a
larger-than-predicted 1.9 million barrels.
Last Wednesday, the EIA said U.S. combined commercial
stockpiles of crude and refined products in the week to Aug. 13
hit the highest level since weekly records began in 1990, and
the highest since 1980 according to the agency's monthly data.
Hurricane Danielle in the central Atlantic Ocean
unexpectedly weakened again and was downgraded to a tropical
storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest
advisory. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; editing by Keiron
Henderson)
