* Expected U.S. fuel stocks rise curbs oil
* U.S. consumer confidence drops to lowest since Feb
* Dollar slump supports oil prices
* Coming up: EIA oil data at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday
(Recasts, updates with API inventory report results)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices slipped on
Tuesday as an anticipated fuel stocks rise and weak demand data
countered a lift from the dollar's slump after a consumer
confidence drop fed expectations the Federal Reserve will print
money to buy assets.
U.S. oil prices were hemmed inside Monday's trading range
ahead of weekly inventory reports, with persistent high oil
stockpiles and analyst expectations that refined fuel stocks
rose again last week weighing on prices.
MasterCard reported that U.S weekly retail gasoline demand
fell versus the previous week and was lower against the
year-ago period, also helping to pull oil back.
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Oil had staged an intraday rally on lift from the broadly
weaker dollar, which fell when a report from the Conference
Board showed U.S. consumer confidence fell in September to its
lowest level since February. [] []
U.S. crude for November <CLc1> delivery fell 34 cents, or
0.44 percent, to settle at $76.18 per barrel, having traded
from $75.53 to $77.12 and remaining inside Monday's trading
range of $75.52 to $77.17.
ICE Brent November crude <LCOc1> managed to finish up 14
cents, or 0.18 percent, at $78.71 a barrel.
"While we look for the (inventory) numbers to prompt a
price sell-off, sustaining any price weakness could prove
problematic if the equities remain strong and the dollar
remains weak," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch &
Assoc. in Galena, Illinois, said in a note.
HIGH U.S. OIL INVENTORIES
With U.S. crude and refined oil stocks above year-ago
levels, according to recent government data, fuel stocks were
expected to have risen slightly last week, while crude stocks
were forecast to be only slightly lower. []
Total distillate stocks were expected to have risen 400,000
barrels in the week to Sept. 24, with gasoline stocks up
500,000 barrels, a Reuters analyst survey on Tuesday ahead of
weekly reports showed.
Crude oil stockpiles were forecast to have fallen only
300,000 barrels on lower imports as seasonal refinery
maintenance slowed demand.
Bulging crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for
U.S. West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude, have helped put
European benchmark Brent at an atypical premium to U.S. crude
futures <CL-LCO1=R>, still well above $2 a barrel.
The high inventories at Cushing have also helped keep
front-month U.S. crude futures priced more than a dollar less
than the next futures contract further out <CL-1=R>.
Late on Tuesday, the industry group American Petroleum
Institute's inventory report said U.S. crude oil stocks fell
2.4 million barrels, helping crude prices to pare losses
slightly in post-settlement trading.
But the API also said gasoline stocks rose 3.0 million
barrels, while distillate inventories fell 2.8 million
barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's inventory
report is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks edged up on Tuesday as corporate deal news and
earnings expectations fueled investor optimism even though Wall
Street slipped earlier on weak consumer confidence and housing
sector data. []
Gold hit a record high as the consumer confidence reading
boosted the metal's safe haven appeal [] and intraday the
Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, a global commodities
benchmark, hit an 8-1/2 month peak. []
Oil investors kept watching any possible weather threat to
supplies as Tropical Depression 16 neared tropical storm
strength in the Caribbean Sea. But it was expected to drift
northeast and away from Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure.
[]
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Alex Lawler
in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by
David Gregorio)
