* Chinese economic growth slows slightly to 9.6 pct in Q3
* Oil to approach 5-month high -Technicals []
* Coming Up: U.S. initial jobless claims; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices)
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Oil slipped towards $82 per
barrel on Thursday, consolidating after a slight slowing in
Chinese economic growth and following news of another build in
U.S. crude oil stocks.
Front-month U.S. crude <CLc1>, now the December contract
following November's expiry, was down 34 cents at $82.20 by 1209
GMT, after rising almost 3 percent on Wednesday. ICE Brent
<LCOc1> lost 6 cents to $83.54.
Oil posted its biggest daily percentage gain in more than a
month on Wednesday, after slumping more than 4 percent on
Tuesday when China raised interest rates. Prices reached a
five-month high of $84.43 on Oct. 7. []
China's economic growth slowed a little in the
July-September quarter, growing at 9.6 percent year-on-year,
down from 10.3 percent in the second quarter.
But Chinese growth was a touch stronger than expected and
was accompanied by supportive oil demand data from what is now
the world's biggest energy consumer.
China's implied oil demand rose 6.2 percent from a year
earlier in September to about 8.68 million barrels per day
(bpd), Reuters calculations based on preliminary official
figures showed on Thursday, just short of a record-high 8.9
million bpd in June.
The growth rate, which eased off the double-digit base seen
during early 2010, came on top of a strong base in September
2009, when demand rose at the fastest pace in three years.
China's domestic crude production jumped 9 percent to a
record 4.18 million bpd in September.
U.S. CRUDE STOCKS RISE
U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week by a
smaller-than-expected 667,000 barrels as imports increased, a
weekly report from the federal Energy Information Administration
(EIA) showed on Wednesday. []
Distillate stocks were slightly bullish, falling more than
expected, but gasoline inventories surprised analysts with a
rise of 1.2 million barrels, weighing on the motor fuel market.
Christophe Barret, oil analyst at Credit Agricole, said the
EIA figures painted a fairly gloomy picture for U.S. oil demand
with refinery runs remaining at a very low level.
"It is a little bit bearish in fact when you look at the
numbers because what you have is a small increase in crude
stocks and very very low refinery runs," he said.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic showing the 24-hour oil technical outlook:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20102110075700.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Oil markets were largely unaffected by comments by U.S.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said in a speech in
South Korea that major world currencies were "roughly in
alignment". []
The dollar strengthened immediately after the speech but
then fell back and in early European trade was down about a
third of 1 percent against a basket of currencies <.DXY>.
Oil found continuing support from expectations of U.S.
attempts to bolster the economy, probably through another round
of quantitative easing.
A report from influential consultancy Medley Global Advisors
said the Fed planned to buy $500 billion of Treasuries over six
months and leave itself room for more buying.
France's 12 oil refineries remained blocked on Thursday with
fuel supplies from them still cut off, as workers continued
strikes to protest against the reform of France's pension
system, the CGT union said. []
A union leader called for strikes to be extended, with the
government trying to restore fuel supply and senators just days
away from voting on the pension reforms. []
Several key oil and container ports in southern China were
closed on Thursday ahead of Typhoon Megi, stopping bunker fuel
deliveries and forcing tankers to evacuate to calmer waters,
industry sources said. []
(Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in London and Alejandro
Barbajosa in Singapore; editing by Keiron Henderson)
