* U.S. crude oil stocks up a surprise 7.31 mln bbls - EIA
* U.S. durable goods orders fall, clouding growth outlook
* Coming Up: U.S. jobless claims data; Thursday 1230 GMT
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity, changes byline and
moves dateline from LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell a second
straight day on Wednesday after economic and industry data
fueled concerns about the pace of economic recovery and energy
demand growth and also rising oil inventories.
Wednesday's U.S. Energy Information Administration
inventory report showed crude oil stocks rose 7.31 million
barrels last week as imports jumped. A Reuters analyst survey
had forecast crude oil stocks would be down 1.6 million
barrels.
Gasoline and distillate stocks also rose, though not as
much as had been projected, the EIA said. []
U.S. crude for September <CLc1> delivery fell 47 cents to
$77.03 a barrel at 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT), having recovered
from a drop of $1.60 to a low of $75.90.
In London, ICE Brent edged down 20 cents to $75.93 a
barrel, having traded as low as $74.80.
The crude oil inventory growth was the biggest jump since
the week to Oct. 3, 2008, when stocks rose 8.123 million
barrels, according to EIA data.
Crude oil imports surged by 1.18 million barrels per day to
11.12 million bpd, the highest level for imports since the week
of Aug. 25, 2006.
Inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, hub rose 66,000
barrels to 37.17 million barrels. Cushing is the delivery point
for the New York Mercantile Exchange's benchmark West Texas
Intermediate crude.
"Obviously, the surprise (crude) build came because imports
were a lot higher. People may have missed that because likely
what we're seeing is not so much the impact of Tropical Storm
Bonnie, but the aftermath of Hurricane Alex," said Phil Flynn,
an analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.
"I think there were some imports that were delayed that got
in before the storm."
Bonnie dissipated last weekend, having done little damage
to Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure, although some
production was interrupted. Hurricane Alex hit Mexico near the
Texas border in early July.
The EIA report followed reports of cooling second-quarter
economic growth that had already pressured oil.
New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods fell
unexpectedly for a second straight month in June, posting their
largest decline since August. []
That followed Tuesday's report that showed U.S. consumers
in July were the least confident about the economy since
February because of worries about employment. []
Ahead of the consumer confidence report, crude oil prices
reached $79.69 per barrel on Tuesday, their highest in almost
12 weeks.
CHOPPY NEAR 200-DAY MOVING AVG
Tuesday's U.S. crude price slump to a $77.50 settlement
left prices below the front-month contract's 200-day moving
average. The S&P 500 Index <.SPX> also closed below its 200-day
simple moving average.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic of U.S. crude front month vs 200-day moving avg
http://link.reuters.com/xav89m
Graphic of correlation between U.S. crude and S&P 500:
http://link.reuters.com/baw89m
Graphic on technical outlook for U.S. crude:
http://link.reuters.com/xat99m
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
"WTI moved back below the 200-day moving average and both
WTI and the S&P still need to prove that they can sustain that
line as a support rather than a resistance," Olivier Jakob,
consultant at Petromatrix, said.
(Additional reporting by Eileen Moustakis and Rebekah Kebede
in New York and Christopher Johnson in London; Editing by
Walter Bagley)
