Brent crude falls on U.S. economy fears

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NEARBY MONTH LAST CHANGE PCT SUPPORT RESIST RSI-14 RIC
ICE BRENT 91.44 -1.48 -1.59 90.00 - 93.00 40 LCOc1
NYMEX CRUDE 92.19 -2.01 -2.13 91.20 - 94.50 38 CLc1
ICE GAS OIL 802.75 -5.75 -0.71 780.00 - 810.00 37 LGOc1
NYMEX HEAT 2.5644 -0.0248 -0.96 2.5500 - 2.6000 43 HOc1
NYMEX RBOB 2.3278 -0.0450 -1.90 2.3000 - 2.4000 38 RBc1
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LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures fell on
Tuesday, pressured by renewed concerns about a potential
recession in the United States as more evidence of a slowdown
emerged in the world's top oil consumer.

- Sales at U.S. retailers fell0.4 percent in December,
according to a government report that implied costlier energy
and slumping housing prices were taking a toll on consumers.
[ID: nN15483657]

- Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said
the U.S. economy was probably in a recession or about to slide
into one. [ID: nN15427882]

- President George W. Bush complained on Tuesday about
soaring oil prices and the threat posed to the U.S. economy
during the second day of his visit to Saudi Arabia, the world's
biggest oil exporter.

- Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday that Saudi
Arabia was ready to boost output when the market needed more
oil.

Naimi said he was concerned about low oil inventories, but
declined to say if the OPEC should raise output at its Feb. 1 in
Vienna. [ID: nL15195750]

- U.S. crude oil inventories rose last week as imports
recovered from a sharp drop, a preliminary Reuters poll of seven
industry analysts showed on Monday.On average, the analysts
forecast a 1.2 million barrel increase. [EIA/S]

Distillate supplies, which include heating oil, were
forecast to have increased by an average of 1.2 million barrels,
the poll showed. Gasoline inventories were forecast to have
risen by an average of 2.5 million barrels.

- Technical analysts said prices would probably head lower
for now.

"Despite the uptick on Monday, a head and shoulders top
completed upon a break below $94.47 keeps our focus lower," said
Barclays Capital in a report.

"For WTI crude, while capped by $96.40, we expect the
decline to extend below a trendline at $92.05, through which
opens a measured target at $88.90."

- The latest supply disruption in Nigeria limited the
decline for crude.

Shell declared a force majeure on crude shipments from its
Forcados export terminal in Nigeria after last week's pipeline
attack, a spokesman said.

Exports have been halted since Friday due to sabotage at two
of its pipelines connected to the Forcados export terminal.
Production has not been affected, the spokesman said.
(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Santosh Menon; editing by James
Jukwey)