Brent turns lower, heads towards $57 as supply glut fears prevail

By Jane Xie

SEOUL/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude futures retreated from early highs above $58 and fell towards $57 a barrel on Friday as an abundance of oil erased earlier support drawn from a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stocks.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels in the last week as refineries raised production, compared with analysts' expectations of a decrease of 67,000 barrels.

But a supply glut in delivery hub Cushing, Oklahoma, persisted, rising by 1.995 million barrels, amid higher product stocks, EIA data showed.

"Nothing has changed on the supply side. Unless there are some supply cuts, oil markets can't be strong at the moment," said Ken Hasegawa, commodity sales manager at Tokyo's Newedge Japan.

February Brent crude was up 17 cents a barrel at $57.50 as of 0727 GMT but that was more than $1 down from the day's high at $58.54.

Front-month U.S. crude for February delivery was up 38 cents a barrel from Wednesday at $53.65, after reaching an intraday high of $55.11.

Markets were shut on Thursday for the New Year holiday.

Oil prices have fallen by half from last year's peak to a 5-1/2-year low, under pressure from a global glut of crude, exacerbated by the refusal of the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, to trim supply.

Falling world oil prices will hurt countries across the Middle East unless the oil swing producer acts to reverse the slump, Iran's deputy foreign minister told Reuters.

Oil prices may also have retreated after news that an Enbridge Inc crude oil storage facility in North Dakota had apparently escaped damage from a nearby fire that had alarmed the market earlier.

Adding to the supply pressures, the U.S. government has taken steps that could open the way for more U.S. condensate, or ultra-light crude, to be exported.

WEAK CHINA DATA

The jump in oil prices early on Friday was capped by surveys showing weak factory activity in China in December, which underlined the challenges facing the country's manufacturers as they fight rising costs and softening demand in the world's second-largest economy.

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 50.1 in December from November's 50.3.

"We have to see China's data in totality, but this time, the PMI data is not good," Hasegawa said. "This means the recovery in China and the rest of Asia will take more time."

(Reporting by Meeyoung Cho in SEOUL and Jane Xie in SINGAPORE; Editing by Michael Perry and Alan Raybould)