Oil steady as concerns over Iran sanctions offset weak Chinese imports

By Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Wednesday despite relatively weak Chinese import data as the market remained supported by falling U.S. crude inventories and the introduction of sanctions against Iran.

Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $74.85 per barrel at 0951 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.25 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $69.35 per barrel, up 18 cents.

China's crude imports recovered slightly in July after falling for the previous two months, but were still among the lowest this year due to a drop-off in demand from the country's smaller independent, or "teapot", refineries.

Shipments into the world's biggest importer of crude came in at 36.02 million tonnes last month, or 8.48 million barrels per day, rising from 8.18 million bpd a year earlier and just up on June's 8.36 million bpd, customs data showed.

Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China has "unnerved investors on the prospect of lowered global oil demand growth".

Markets remained supported by the introduction on Tuesday of new U.S. sanctions against Iran, which initially target Iran's purchases of U.S. dollars - in which oil is traded - as well as metals trading, coal, industrial software and its auto sector.

From November, Washington will also target Iran's petroleum sector.

Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"We view that it is very unlikely that the U.S. administration will be successful in reducing Iranian exports to zero," analysts at MUFG said in a note on Wednesday.

They said Iranian exports were likely to drop by up to 1 million bpd by November but even that could push Brent to $85 per barrel if oil markets were hit by other disruptions in producer countries such as Libya or Venezuela.

The market was also bolstered by a report on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute, which said crude inventories fell by 6 million barrels in the week to Aug. 3 to 407.2 million.

Official U.S. fuel storage data is due later on Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson)