* Oil rises above $106 on weakness in U.S. dollar
* U.S. oil demand running 5.3 percent below year ago
* Japan's August crude imports down 3.3 percent from year ago
* Mexico's Pemex cuts oil output by 250,000 bpd due to Ike
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LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Oil remained above $106 a
barrel on Thursday with a weakening dollar and growing signs of
tightening supplies balancing concerns over slowing demand.
Falling demand in the United States, the world's largest
energy consumer, and lingering uncertainty over a $700-billion
bank bailout plan, will probably keep gains in check, analysts
said.
U.S. light crude for November delivery <CLc1> rose 59 cents
to $106.32 a barrel by 0744 GMT, after having fallen 88 cents to
settle at $105.73 on Wednesday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> gained 75 cents to $103.23.
"Oil is largely boosted by weakness in the U.S. dollar,"
said Mark Pervan, an analyst at Australia and New Zealand Bank
in Melbourne. "The U.S. may be closer to reaching a deal to
approving the bailout but there is still a lot of uncertainty on
its overall impact on the economy."
The dollar slid against the euro and the yen on Thursday,
hurt by lingering doubts over the U.S. government's proposed
$700 billion bank rescue plan. []
Oil has tumbled about 25 percent since hitting record highs
of more than $147 a barrel in mid-July, dragged down by mounting
evidence that high energy costs and economic woes were cutting
global fuel consumption.
In a further sign of slackening demand, a U.S. government
report showed nationwide oil demand over the past four weeks
running 5.3 percent below last year in the midst of mounting
economic turmoil in the country.
In Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, crude oil
imports also fell 3.3 percent to 4.13 million barrels per day in
August from the same month last year, data from the Ministry of
Finance showed on Thursday. []
Still, analysts said slow recovery in oil and gas production
in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, falling inventories in the U.S. and
lower OPEC supplies would continue to offer support for prices.
Mexico is temporarily cutting its crude oil output by
250,000 barrels per day because of damage to U.S. refineries
from Hurricane Ike, state oil monopoly Pemex said on Wednesday.
[]
U.S. refinery utilisation fell to the lowest level on record
in the week through Sept. 19, U.S. government data show,
reflecting shut-ins along the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane
Ike this month. []
Crude stocks tumbled by 1.5 million barrels, less than
analysts' expectations for a 2-million-barrel fall, while
gasoline stocks fell for the ninth week to their lowest level
since 1967.
In the Gulf of Mexico, home to a quarter of U.S. oil output,
energy firms continued efforts to restart production at
refineries and pipelines after Ike battered U.S. oil
infrastructure in the biggest hit to the U.S. energy supplies
since the 2005 hurricane season.
Hurricane Ike destroyed 52 offshore platforms in the Gulf of
Mexico that produced a total of 13,300 barrels of crude oil and
90 million cubic feet of natural gas each day, the U.S. Mineral
Management Service said on Wednesday. []
(Reporting by Joe Brock in London and Fayen Wong in Perth;
editing by William Hardy)
