* Oil pauses after fall on bearish U.S. demand data
* Eyes on U.S. oil inventory data later on Wednesday
* Russia says ceased fire, BP shuts oil pipeline
SINGAPORE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Oil steadied above $113 on
Wednesday, after falling a day ago to its lowest since May 2 in
the wake of official data showing U.S. oil use in its steepest
dive in 26 years.
Oil demand in the world's top consumer fell by an average
800,000 barrels per day (bpd) on-year during the first half,
marking the steepest fall since 1982, the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) said. []
U.S. crude <CLc1> inched up 9 cents to $113.10 a barrel by
0158 GMT, more than $30 off the peak above $147 hit on July 11
as high fuel prices and economic problems hit demand worldwide.
Retail gasoline demand in the United States fell 3.8
percent last week versus a year ago, MasterCard Advisors said,
even as pump prices eased from record highs. []
"There's a swing in mood from supply concerns to falling
demand particularly in the United States, but attention is
beginning to turn to Europe and Asian economies as well," said
Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst at ANZ Bank in
Melbourne.
Growing demand from China and other emerging economies
spurred oil on a six-year rally that sent prices up sevenfold
at its peak, with additional support this year coming from
investors buying oil as a hedge against the weak dollar and
inflation.
But the situation has reversed, with high prices and weaker
economies slowing demand for oil while the dollar is hovering
near a six-month high against a basket of currencies.
Number two consumer China reported on Monday an unexpected
7 percent fall in July crude imports to a seven-month low, in
the biggest monthly drop since January 2005 as refiners balked
at soaring crude costs and lagging domestic fuel prices.
"All in all, we are maintaining a bearish trading posture
in quest of additional price weakness to the $108 area, a level
that appears achievable by week's end," said Jim Ritterbusch,
president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.
Amid the gloomy outlook, traders will eye the weekly U.S.
inventory data due late on Wednesday.
A Reuters poll of analysts showed crude stocks likely fell
by 200,000 barrels last week, gasoline stocks fell by 2.1
million barrels, and distillates rose by 1.9 million barrels.
[]
The Russia-Georgia conflict remained supportive, albeit
mostly taking a back seat so far this week.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had ordered a halt to
military operations in Georgia on Tuesday, but Tbilisi said
Moscow was still bombing towns and villages. []
BP PLC <BP.L> closed an oil pipeline and a natural gas
pipeline running from its Caspian Sea fields through Georgia
but said neither pipeline had been damaged by the recent
fighting. []
The Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP), which takes crude
from the Caspian port of Baku in Azerbaijan to the Georgian
port of Supsa on the Black Sea, could have been carrying up to
155,000 bpd until the shutdown, trade sources said.
A third BP pipeline that runs through Georgia, the
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, was shut last week following
an explosion in Turkey.
(Reporting by Chua Baizhen, Editing by Michael Urquhart)
