Oil lower on renewed US demand worries

SINGAPORE: Oil was lower in Asian trade Friday as investors fretted about energy demand in the US, the world's largest oil user, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery fell 63 cents to 75.83 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January delivery was off 44 cents to 77.92 dollars a barrel.

This week's US Department of Energy (DoE) report of a rise in oil stocks has renewed fears over weak American demand for oil as the country struggles to mount a strong recovery from a deep recession, analysts said.

"Caution is expected to remain on the back of unexpected high levels of inventories," analysts from Singapore's United Overseas Bank said in a report.

The DoE in its weekly report Wednesday said crude reserves rose by 2.1 million barrels in the week ending November 27, more than double market expectations.

It said US gasoline reserves had soared by four million barrels last week, much higher than the 700,000-barrel rise tipped by analysts.

However, US distillate stocks, which include heating fuel, dropped by 1.2 million barrels.

"Market participants might remain cautious due to the unexpected high levels of inventories that are not a healthy sign for crude oil demand," analysts at the Sucden Financial Research brokerage in London said in a note to investors.

Meanwhile, Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said Thursday that the emirate did not want any change to OPEC production quotas and believes there is a consensus to keep output unchanged.

Asked about Kuwait's position ahead of OPEC's ministerial meeting later this month, Sheikh Ahmad said there would be "no change" in production.

Kuwait, with a daily production of around 2.2 million barrels per day, is OPEC's fourth largest producer.

The oil exporters cartel will hold its next meeting on output on December 22 in Luanda, Angola.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumps 40 percent of the world's crude.