Oil rises to $106, lifted by Libya, product supply drop

By Simon Falush

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil rose to $106 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by a fall in U.S. oil product inventories and worries about prolonged weakness in supply from Libya as the peak northern hemisphere winter heating season looms.

Brent crude gained 74 cents to $106.07 a barrel by 1217 GMT, after settling 90 cents lower at a four-month low in the previous session. U.S. oil rose 70 cents to $94.07, after ending $1.25 down at its lowest in five months.

Data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that gasoline stocks fell 4.3 million barrels, far below analysts' expectations of a 338,000-barrel draw.

Distillate fuel stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.73 million barrels compared with expectations of a 1.3 million-barrel decline.

However analysts said the overall picture was still negative for oil.

"I would attribute (the market's rise) to a countermove after heavy losses in the previous day," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Overall crude inventories rose by 871,000 barrels in the week to November 1 to 382 million barrels, posting a seventh straight weekly increase.

"The general picture is still bearish," Fritsch said. "Note that API crude stocks rose despite sharply higher refinery utilisation."

Investors are now waiting for stockpile data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for clarity on demand at 1530 GMT.

LIBYAN TURMOIL

Turmoil in Libya continued to worry oil investors.

Protesters at the Mellitah terminal in western Libya are pressuring Italian co-owner Eni to halt gas exports to Italy, Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni told Italian radio on Wednesday.

Minority Amazigh, or Berbers, have been inside the port for more than a week, demanding more political rights.

Strikes and armed protests have shut much of the OPEC member's oil output for months.

However, continued progress in talks between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme is taking some of the risk premium away from the market, helping cap gains.

Iran's top negotiator said that a framework deal on its nuclear programme was possible as early as this week.

Iran resumes negotiations in Geneva on Thursday with six world powers to try to end a stand-off over its programme, which the West suspects may be aimed at developing nuclear weapons, despite Iran's denials.

Gains were also capped after a report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed U.S. service-sector business activity picked up, spurring speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin to scale back monetary stimulus later this year.

A roll-back would boost the dollar, making dollar-denominated assets such as oil more expensive for holders of other currencies. (Additional reporting by Manash Goswami in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely and Keiron Henderson)