* U.S. crude stocks fall a large 7.29 mln bbl
* China Premier Wen prepares steps to tame price rises
* Dollar slips after weak US CPI data
(Updates following the release of U.S. oil data)
By Ikuko Kurahone
LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Oil was barely lower at around
$82 on Wednesday on renewed worries China might raise interest
rates to fight inflation, although recovering from early losses
after data showed a large drop in U.S. crude inventories.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> were down 26 cents at $82.09 a
barrel by 1641 GMT, having turned positive briefly.
ICE Brent crude <LCOc1> was trading 9 cents up at $84.82.
U.S. crude stocks fell by 7.29 million barrels in the week
to Nov. 12 against a forecast for an increase of 100,000
barrels, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration
(EIA) showed. []
The fall was roughly in line with a 7.7 million barrel drop
for the same week shown in a separate sat of data from the
industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) late on
Tuesday.
"Overall inventories are supportive and they match API's. It
appears the import drop combined with rising refinery
utilization produced a good part of the draw in crude," said Tom
Bentz, a broker with BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York.
"Markets are still struggling. (It) may want to further test
downside first. But it does appear stocks are tightening (and)
so could balance a market that has been oversupplied for quite
some time."
It was a fourth day of declines in U.S. crude, which
totalled a loss of more than 7 percent since it struck a
two-year high of $88.63 on Thursday.
Oil prices briefly fell more than $1 earlier on Wednesday.
World equities were also struggling on concerns over a potential
rate hike by China. []
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government was preparing
steps to tame price rises, the official Xinhua news agency
reported late on Tuesday. []
The tendency of China's central bank to raise interest rates
around the 20th day of the month makes this coming Friday a
"sensitive window" for a rate rise, an official newspaper said
on Wednesday, citing unnamed analysts. []
China has overtaken the United States to become the world's
largest energy consumer. Any slowdown to the Chinese economy may
slow its rapid growth in energy demand.
CPI, IRELAND
Further pressure came as the U.S. consumer index increased
by a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in October.
The increase in the year-on-year core rate was the smallest
on record, data showed on Wednesday, further supporting the
Federal Reserve's decision to ease monetary policy.
[]
Investors continue to monitor Ireland's debt woes, which hit
global markets. Ireland committed itself on Wednesday to working
with a European Union-IMF mission on urgent steps to help its
stricken banking sector, a process that could lead to a bailout
despite reluctance in Dublin.
A team from the European Commission, the International
Monetary Fund and European Central Bank will travel to Ireland
on Thursday to examine what measures may be needed if Dublin
decides to seek aid, euro zone finance ministers said.
[]
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore, Ikuko Kurahone
and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London; editing by Jane Baird)
