UPDATE 1-Oil in 3rd week of losses on U.S. growth concern

                                
   * Fed Chairman Bernanke's speech in Wyoming awaited
                                
 * Technicals show price in $72.50-$74 range [ID:nSGE67Q00C]
                                
 * Coming Up: Revised U.S. GDP 2nd quarter; 1230 GMT
 (Updates prices)
                                
 By Alejandro Barbajosa
                                
 SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Oil snapped a two-day rally
on Friday and was heading for a third straight week of losses
as a forecast downgrade in U.S. economic growth fed disquiet
over record oil inventories and weak housing and manufacturing
data.
                                
 Friday's negative sentiment eclipsed a positive U.S. jobs
report, which helped boost front-month U.S. crude by almost 1.2
percent on Thursday.
                                
 U.S. crude for delivery in October <Wc1> fell 17 cents to
$73.19 a barrel by 0545 GMT, after touching an intraday trough
of $70.76 on Wednesday, the lowest price since early June.
Prices have slid about $10 from a peak near $83 on Aug. 4.
                                
 "The fundamental picture is very negative," said Jonathan
Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in
Sydney.
                                
 "If you get supportive data in terms of GDP and stimulus,
prices could go to the top of the trading range, but if it
comes lower than expected, the environment is so negative that
we could see a break of $70."
                                
 On Friday, the U.S. government is expected to revise
second-quarter gross domestic product growth lower to an annual
pace of 1.4 percent from 2.4 percent, a Reuters survey shows.
                                
 In a Friday speech to fellow central bankers, U.S. Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to discuss the
uncertain prospects for the economy, but is not expected to
give many clues about whether the central bank will pump more
cash into the economy to keep the recovery going.
[ID:nN2485884]
                                
 GROWTH CONCERNS
                                
 Weakness in the consumer sector has slowed energy demand
growth in the United States, the world's top oil user, sending
the nation's total petroleum inventories to their highest since
weekly records began in 1990.
                                
 Bloating U.S. inventories are depressing prices of U.S.
benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude relative to North Sea
Brent. The premium of front-month Brent futures over
front-month WTI jumped to as high as $1.80 on Thursday, the
widest since early June, receding to about $1.65 on Friday.
                                
 October ICE Brent <LCOc1> slid 27 cents to $74.75 on
Friday.
                                
 Front-month U.S. crude is also trading at discounts to
contracts for the following months, a market structure known as
contango.
                                
 For a graphic: http://link.reuters.com/nuj57n
                                
 Although new U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected
last week, they were too high to signal a shift in a weak
labour market that is constraining economic growth.
[ID:nN26186848]
                                
 Tropical Storm Earl in the eastern Atlantic Ocean continued
to move westward on Thursday, with the U.S. National Hurricane
Center still expecting the system to become the season's third
hurricane by Saturday. [ID:nN26197778]
                                
 Early computer models still show the storm moving west and
the northwest, away from key oil and gas producing areas in the
Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Danielle, which strengthened to
Category 3, was also expected to stay in the Atlantic.
[ID:nN27204258]
 (Editing by Michael Urquhart)