* Oil up on larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. stocks
* Conflict between Georgia and Russia lends some support
* Faltering global growth may limit sharp price rises
(Adds latest prices)
By Seng Li Peng
SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Oil rose nearly $1 on
Thursday, moving closer to $117 a barrel, as a
larger-than-expected drawdown in crude and gasoline stocks in
the United States rekindled supply concerns.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was up 86 cents at $116.86 while ICE
Brent climbed 72 cents to $114.19 by 0635 GMT, extending
overnight gains.
U.S. oil prices jumped $3 on Wednesday after the Energy
Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. crude stocks dropped
400,000 barrels, while gasoline inventories fell by 6.4 million
barrels in the week to Aug. 8 as refinery throughput decreased.
The fall in gasoline stocks was much larger than analysts'
expectations of a 2.1-million-barrel decline. Distillate stocks
also unexpectedly decreased.
Disruptions to exports from the Caspian region also
underpinned energy prices as Western powers tried to shore up
support for a shaky ceasefire between Russian and Georgian
troops around the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Georgia had accused Russia of breaking the ceasefire in
their six-day-old conflict on Wednesday, and U.S. President
George W. Bush demanded Moscow resolve a crisis that has
strained relations with the United States.
Russia, on the other hand, accused the U.S. of playing a
dangerous game in the Caucasus by backing Georgia and denied
Moscow was not doing enough to prevent looting.
BP <BP.L> has closed an oil pipeline and a natural gas
pipeline running from its Caspian Sea fields through Georgia
but said neither had been damaged.
A third BP pipeline that runs through Georgia, the
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, was shut last week following
an explosion in Turkey.
However, oil is still far away from this year's peak of
more than $147 a barrel hit in mid-July, and analysts said it's
unlikely the market could move anywhere close to that level
soon.
"There are not that many factors that can drive prices
higher," said Gerard Burg, a commodities analyst at National
Australia Bank in Melbourne.
"The conflict in Georgia does not have that much impact.
The pipeline was already offline," he added.
High energy prices in many parts of the world have prompted
motorists to drive less, slashing demand.
The U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday that
Americans drove 12.2 billion miles, or 4.7 percent, less in
June compared with a year earlier. It was the eighth month in a
row driving declined
Traders are now watching OPEC to see if it will cut back on
oil supplies.
Iran's OPEC governor Muhammad Ali Khatibi said on Tuesday
that the organisation should trim its oil output if demand
continues to fall in slowing industrialised economies.
Khatibi said Iran is pumping around 4 million barrels per
day out of total capacity of around 4.3 million bpd. Iran's
informal OPEC target is 3.817 million bpd, although Khatibi
said Tehran had never agreed with OPEC's calculation of that
target.
Iran believed it was entitled to produce around 100,000 bpd
more than that target, Khatibi said.
(Editing by Kim Coghill)
