* US crude stocks rise to highest since Sept 1990 -EIA
* OPEC cuts demand forecasts in latest monthly report
(Updates prices at settlement, adds ExxonMobil CEO comment on
oil prices)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell marginally
on Wednesday as government data showed U.S. crude stocks last
week were at the highest level since September 1990.
The Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory
report showed a 5.6-million-barrel rise in U.S. crude stocks,
to 366.7 million barrels, beating analysts' expectations of a
1.9-million-barrel build. []
U.S. crude for May delivery <CLc1> settled down 16 cents
at $49.25 a barrel after a day of see-saw trading. ICE Brent
crude <LCOc1> settled down 17 cents at $51.79.
"Another week, another bearish inventory report. It has
been negative week after week and yet the market hasn't
collapsed," said Tom Bentz, senior commodity analyst at BNP
Paribas Commodity Futures Inc in New York.
"It's defying fundamental logic, focusing instead on the
dollar, the strength in the stock market and inflation fears --
that's what's keeping the oil price up."
The bearish inventory data outweighed a modest rise on the
stock market, with the Dow Jones industrial average staying
positive on Wednesday [].
Oil prices have tumbled nearly $100 per barrel since last
July, as the global recession dented oil demand, but they have
recovered in recent months from a low of $32.40 in December.
A rally in equity markets this month, in the hope that the
world economic outlook might be brightening, has helped boost
oil prices, despite its weak supply-demand fundamentals.
"We still expect the U.S. stock market to be the
intermediate price driver for most commodity complexes over the
next few weeks," Edward Meir of MF Global said in a research
note.
However, ExxonMobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said
on Wednesday in an interview with Reuters that high inventory
levels will affect oil prices even when the U.S. economy
rebounds. []
He added that crude oil price should remain range-bound for
a while as high inventory levels and concerns about the world
economy outweigh attempts by OPEC to curb supply.
OPEC had announced production cuts of up to 4.2 million
barrels a day since September in an attempt to stem the slide
in oil prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said
Wednesday that world oil demand would fall by 1.37 million
barrels per day in 2009, up from its previous forecast for a
fall of 1.01 million bpd.
"In the coming months, the market is expected to remain
under pressure from uncertainties in the economic outlook,
demand deterioration and the substantial supply overhang," OPEC
said. []
Both the International Energy Agency and the U.S.
government agency EIA have also just reduced their global
demand forecasts.
In its monthly outlook released on Tuesday, the EIA cut its
2009 world oil demand forecast by 180,000 barrels per day to
just over 84 million bpd. []
Gloomy economic indicators remained on Wednesday, with
Federal Reserve Data showing U.S. industrial output shrank more
than expected in March.
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Gene Ramos in New
York and Jane Merriman in London; Editing by Christian
Wiessner)
