Brent oil reverses fall, rises above $84 on mixed data

By Sam Wilkin and Simon Falush

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil rose above $84 on Wednesday after touching a four-year low below $82 in a day of volatile trading, which also saw U.S. crude gain more than a dollar, as strong signals from the United States outgunned weak data from China and Europe.

U.S. crude inventories increased by 460,000 barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while stocks of gasoline and diesel fell.

The crude stock build was significantly smaller than the 2.2 million barrels predicted by analysts in a Reuters poll, suggesting greater-than-anticipated demand in the world's largest oil consumer.

"The report was solidly bullish given the further declines in the refined product categories," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

"The smallish crude oil build is also supportive because it disappointed relative to expectations."

Brent crude for December rose $1.30 to $84.12 a barrel by 1555 GMT, having earlier reached the day's low of $81.63, its weakest since October 2010.

U.S. crude futures rose $1.85 to $79.04 a barrel.

Prices also rose on unconfirmed rumours in the market that an oil pipeline had exploded in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. private sector created 230,000 jobs in October, more than the 220,000 forecast by economists, according to data provided by a payrolls processor.

Services sector growth in China weakened in October as new business cooled, a private survey showed, coming just days after data revealed sluggish factory growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Euro zone business growth picked up less than expected in October despite much deeper price cutting and was only marginally higher than September's 10-month low, according to business surveys.

Global supply continued to climb as Brazil's oil output reached a record 2.358 million barrels per day in September, up nearly 13 percent from a year earlier, national oil regulator ANP said.

Consistent supply from Libya and Iraq, where many expected production to be disrupted by conflict, has added to the downward pressure on prices.

The dollar index hit a new 4-1/2-year high on Wednesday, weighing on oil and driving gold prices to their lowest since April 2010. [FRX/]

Oil and other commodities priced in dollars become more expensive to holders of other currencies when the U.S. unit rises, denting demand.

Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic lost more than 2 percent on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia cut export prices to the United States, threatening to deepen a global supply glut that has driven crude prices down 30 percent since June.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi is making his first visits in years to fellow exporters Venezuela and Mexico, although tumbling oil prices are not the stated purpose of the trip, according to officials and sources.

(Additional reporting by Seng Li Peng in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and Keiron Henderson)