(Adds prices falling by more than $3, Sabic's lower profits))
* Oil slides towards $33 after Russia-Ukraine gas deal
* Asian stock markets open lower on bearish economic news
* Demand weak, eyes on China's Q4 data
By Maryelle Demongeot
SINGAPORE, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Oil extended losses towards
$33 a barrel on Tuesday, after Russia and Ukraine agreed on a
gas deal that would help secure supplies to Europe, while no
improvement was in sight for oil demand.
Russia and Ukraine are both ready to fully resume transit
of Russian gas to Europe, Interfax quoted Russia Gazprom's
<GAZP.MM> CEOAlexei Miller as telling President Dmitry Medvedev
on Tuesday. []
Economic gloom deepened after the Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L> posted the biggest loss in the UK's corporate history,
with stock markets in Asia following European counterparts
lower and Japan's Nikkei index closing down 2.31 percent.
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The dollar rose to a six-week high against the euro on the
news, making U.S.-denominated commodities less attractive to
investors. []
The United States was closed on Monday for the Martin
Luther King holiday, and trade was thin, especially on the
front-month February contract, due to expire on Tuesday.
U.S. light crude for February delivery <CLc1> fell to
$33.35 a barrel by 0815 GMT, down $3.16 from Friday's
settlement after having slid as low as $33.30. There was no
official settlement on Monday due to the holiday.
The March contract, which takes over as front-month on
Wednesday, was down $2.97 to $39.60, and more than $6.00 a
barrel above the February contract due to brimming crude stocks
at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for NYMEX contracts.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.08 to $43.42 a barrel,
having closed $2.07 lower on Monday.
"Seasonal cold weather continues to be the only supportive
factor on the demand side," said French bank Societe Generale
in an overnight report.
Oil prices have fallen by more than three quarters since
record highs above $147 a barrel hit last July, as a financial
turmoil has evolved into a global economic crisis and weakened
oil demand.
Two recent supportive factors have been removed, after
Russia and Ukraine signed a 10-year gas deal clearing the way
for the resumption of supplies to a freezing Europe, and
implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
eased supply worries. [] []
Further adding to the economic gloom, Saudi Basic
Industries Corp <2010.SE> (SABIC), one of the world's largest
chemical firms, posted a worse-than-expected fall in
fourth-quarter net profit as a result of the global economic
slowdown and pledged to cut costs at affiliates abroad.
China, once a driver of the surge in oil prices, is
expected to release this week fourth-quarter GDP data that
economists say will show a 7.0 percent growth, much higher than
in the developed world, but the slowest pace of expansion for
world's third-biggest economy in nearly a decade.
[]
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain)
