NYMEX-Crude ends 2 pct off as fuel supplies swell

NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended
nearly 2 percent lower on Wednesday, weighed down by government
data showing larger-than-expected supply increases in gasoline
and distillate fuels last week.

Traders ignored data from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration showing a surprise drawdown in crude stocks.

Gasoline futures led the energy futures market lower,
slumping nearly 3 percent as inventories rose far more than
expected, according to the EIA report.

Heating oil futures finished about 2 percent off as the EIA
said distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel
fuel, rose more than twice the forecast to a 26-year high.

"This is a day in which the market is responding directly
to the fundamentals of the oil market. People are not trading
off of the direction of the U.S. dollar or the S&P 500 but
reacting to the realization that there is a surplus in the oil
market," said Tim Evans, analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in
New York.

The dollar rose against the euro and a basket of major
currencies. Optimism stoked by Australia's interest-rate hike
on Tuesday dissipated and traders said the greenback's recent
decline was overdone. [USD/]

The dollar will be a reserve currency for a long time but
will gradually "give place" to other currencies, Algerian Oil
Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters Wednesday on the
sidelines of a natural gas conference in Buenos Aires.
[ID:nN07472387]

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell while
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes were little changed, following
two days of strong gains as the first wave of quarterly
earnings reports trickled into the market. [.N]

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude
CLX9 settled down $1.31, or 1.85 percent, at $69.57 a barrel,
trading from $68.88 to $71.76.

* In London, November Brent crude LCOX9 ended down $1.36,
or 1.98 percent, at $67.20 a barrel, trading from $66.65 to
$69.45.

* NYMEX November RBOB RBX9 finished down 5.24 cents, or
2.96 percent, at $1.7203 a gallon, trading from $1.7028 to
$1.7930.

* NYMEX November heating oil HOX9 ended down 3.31 cents,
or 1.82 percent, at $1.7811 a gallon, trading from $1.7668 to
$1.84.

* The November/November RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> ended
at $2.68, down from at $3.57 on Tuesday. The November/November
heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> finished at $5.24, dipping
from $5.31 on Tuesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 ended at $13.73,
widening from $13.03 on Tuesday. The November 2014 contract
ended on Wednesday at $83.30, down 61 cents, or 0.73 percent.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $68.93/$69.88

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $68.05/$73.50

NYMEX heating oil: $1.7790/$1.8766

NYMEX RBOB: $1.7326/$1.8356

For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nL7619387]

MARKET NEWS

* EIA data showed crude stocks fell 1 million barrels to
337.4 million barrels, against the forecast for an increase of
2.2 million barrels in a Reuters poll, and greater than the
American Petroleum Institute's 254,000-barrels draw. [EIA/S]

* Crude stocks at the NYMEX delivery hub at Cushing,
Oklahoma, fell 1.4 million barrels, to 25.1 million barrels.

* Distillate stocks rose 700,000 barrels to 171.8 million
barrels, highest since supply hit 175.1 million barrels in the
week to Jan. 14, 1983. Forecasters expected a 300,000-barrel
build. API reported a drawdown of 2.9 million barrels.

* Gasoline stocks jumped 2.9 million barrels to 214.4
million barrels, against the forecast for a 1.0-million-barrel
increase, far bigger than API's reported 544,000-barrel build.

* Valero Energy (VLO.N) said a small fire at the west plant
of its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, shut a hydrocracking
unit. [ID:nN07146708]

* Nigeria's main militant group threatened to resume
attacks against Africa's biggest oil and gas industry once its
three-month-old cease-fire expires later this month.
[ID: nL724611]
(Reporting by Gene Ramos, Robert Gibbons and Haitham Haddadin;
Editing by Christian Wiessner)