NYMEX-U.S. crude falls as IEA to tap oil reserves

* IEA to release 60-mln bbls of oil, weighs on oil price

* U.S. jobless claims rose last week, oil demand may wane

* Coming up: CFTC positions data, 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell to a
four-month low on Thursday as news that the consuming nations
would tap reserves and more weak economic data pressured oil
prices.

A release of 60 million barrels of oil from government-held
strategic reserves was announced by the 28-member International
Energy Agency. The IEA said it would release 2 million barrels
a day (bpd), mostly crude, over an initial 30 days to offset
the disruption to Libya's output. [ID:nLDE75M1BR]

The United States will provide half the volumes from its
huge 727-million barrel crude oil reserve, about 1.5 days of
U.S. consumption, with Europe supplying 30 pct and the rest
from Pacific OECD nations.

FUNDAMENTALS

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude CLQ1,
fell $4.39, or 4.6 percent, to settle at $91.02 a barrel, the
lowest close since ending at $86.20 on Feb. 18. Thursday's
trading ranged from $89.69 to $94.47.

* NYMEX July RBOB settled down 13.57 cents, or 4.56 percent
at $2.8376 a gallon, the lowest front-month close since March
15's $2.8029.

* NYMEX July heating oil closed 17.32 cents lower, or 5.86
percent, at $2.7817 a gallon, the lowest front-month settlement
since Feb. 18's $2.7129.

* NYMEX heating oil futures ended under the 150-day moving
average of $2.8386 for front-month heating oil futures HOc1.

* U.S. initial jobless claims rose last week, suggesting
little improvement in the labor market. [ID:nN1E75M08F]

* New single-family home sales fell in May, the Commerce
Department said. A report on Tuesday had shown sales of
previously owned homes, a larger segment of the market, fell
3.8 percent. [ID:nN1E75M08F]

* Goldman Sachs (GS.N) said Brent crude oil prices LCOc1
could fall by $10-$12 a barrel by the end of July after the
International Energy Agency announced a surprise release of 60
million barrels of oil from member countries. [ID:nN1E75M131]

* Brent crude oil futures traded on the Intercontinental
Exchange (ICE.N) hit a record one-day volume and topped 1
million lots traded for the first time. [ID:nN1E75M16I]

* Key oil consumer China's factory sector barely expanded
in June even as price pressures eased, a purchasing managers'
survey showed, reflecting the impact of monetary policy
tightening and slack global demand. [ID:nL3E7HN07S]

MARKETS NEWS

* The euro pared losses against the dollar after sources
indicated Greece has reached an agreement with EU-IMF
inspectors on a five-year austerity plan. [USD/]
[ID:nATH006206]

* U.S. stocks closed well above session lows on news Greece
agreed to a five-year austerity plan, but lingering economic
uncertainty ultimately drove indexes mostly lower, keeping the
downward trend intact. [.N]

* Copper ended down for a second straight day as a
strengthening dollar and heightened concerns about slowing
global economic growth triggered a wave of risk aversion across
the commodities complex. [MET/L]

* Gold fell 2 percent, its biggest one-day drop in over a
month, after disappointing U.S. jobless claims data hit
investor risk appetite and boosted the dollar, pummeling
commodity and stock markets. [GOL/]

UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS

* Commodities Futures Trading Commission positions data at
3:30 p.m. EDT on (1930 GMT) on Friday.

SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO

CHNG CHNG VOL VOL
CLc1 91.02 -4.39 -4.6% 89.69 94.47 464,851 296,275
CLc2 91.54 -4.38 -4.6% 90.27 95.07 139,123 83,110
LCOc1 107.26 -6.95 -6.1% 105.72 113.40 442,280 220,843
RBc1 2.8376 -0.1357 -4.6% 2.7850 2.9550 27,652 38,235
RBc2 2.7764 -0.1524 -5.2% 2.7331 2.9092 61,621 58,489
HOc1 2.7817 -0.1732 -5.9% 2.7570 2.9355 31,078 34,220
HOc2 2.7994 -0.1715 -5.8% 2.7715 2.9513 70,858 51,370
TOTAL MARKET VOLUME OPEN INTEREST

CURRENT Jun 22 30D AVG Jun 22 NET CHNG
CRUDE 932,420 540,731 694,524 1,513,461 15,466
RBOB 157,795 141,323 150,051 260,516 767
HO 158,816 124,272 122,286 329,753 2,513
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons and Gene Ramos)