* Commodity markets still focused on dollar after G20 accord
* Technicals show prices to rise to $84 []
* Coming Up: U.S. existing home sales for September; 2200
GMT
(Adds China annual output to rise to record, updates prices)
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Oil rose past $82 on Monday
as the dollar tumbled ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke, where he may outline details of an
expected new round of U.S. monetary stimulus.
U.S. crude <CLc1> for December rose 99 cents to $82.68 a
barrel at 0607 GMT, less than $2 from a five-month high of
$84.43 reached on Oct. 7. ICE Brent <LCOc1> added 81 cents to
$83.77.
Investors will look for clues about how much Treasury bonds
the U.S. central bank is likely to buy in a highly anticipated
move to pump more money to shore up a faltering economy.
Bernanke will make his speech at 1230 GMT after G20 finance
ministers over the weekend agreed to shun competitive currency
devaluations.
Bernanke "has been quite dovish, giving justification for
more debt purchases," said Michelle Kwek, an analyst at Informa
Global Markets in Singapore
This could form part of an expansionary monetary policy
known as quantitative easing, or QE.
"People are still focused on QE and the fact that they are
going to be printing more money," Kwek said.
At a meeting in South Korea over the weekend, G20 finance
ministers recognised the quickening shift in economic power
away from Western industrial nations by striking a surprise
deal to give emerging nations a bigger voice in the
International Monetary Fund. []
SELL THE DOLLAR
"People are still selling dollars after the G20 meeting and
that is putting upside pressure on commodities," Kwek said.
The dollar weakened almost 0.9 percent against a basket of
currencies on Monday <.DXY> after the G20 accord kept alive a
status quo trade of selling the U.S. currency and buying
equities and commodities such as gold. A weaker dollar renders
oil imports cheaper for buyers in Asia, where demand is growing
at the fastest pace.
Asian equities rose on Monday, led by resource-related
shares after world stocks and the dollar see-sawed on Friday
before the G20 agreement.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy scored a victory on Friday
by getting his bill to make people work two more years for
their pensions through the Senate, but striking refinery
workers are putting a strain on businesses and daily life and
show no sign of backing down. []
Workers at two refineries have voted to stay on strike this
week, and workers at the other plants will meet in the days
ahead to decide their course of action.
Hurricane Richard strengthened as it bore down on the
Central American nation of Belize, where tourists were
evacuated from hotels and some residents fled to government
shelters.
The storm was seen making landfall near Belize City late on
Sunday before weakening to a tropical depression and entering
Mexico's Bay of Campeche, where Mexico produces more than
two-thirds of its 2.6 million barrels-per-day of crude output.
Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, said it was watching the
storm but had not evacuated any workers from its offshore
platforms. The storm would likely not strengthen again once it
entered the Gulf, the National Hurricane Center said.
China's crude oil output will rise 5.5 percent this year to
200 million tonnes, or 4 million barrels per day, the country's
National Energy Administration said on Monday, a record high
that is in line with latest official data. []
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
