Brent crude gains on euro zone optimism

An employee of a gas station fills the tank of a car at a gas station in Seoul June 24, 2011.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brent crude rose Wednesday on hopes the euro zone's debt crisis would ease, while U.S. oil futures fell following data showing a surprise increase in U.S. product inventories.

Brent crude for October delivery settled at $112.40 a barrel, gaining 51 cents, snapping four days of losses.

U.S. October crude settled at $88.91 a barrel, down $1.30, after rising above $90 on Tuesday.

Brent's premium against U.S. crude widened to $23.49 at the close from $21.68 on Tuesday as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed large increases in U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles last week due to poor demand.

Brent prices gained after the euro rose on comments about possible new euro zone bonds to help ease the region's debt troubles.

Later, the euro hit a three-day peak against the dollar on optimism debt-strapped Greece will remain part of a euro zone and will meet all its obligations.

Trading volume on Brent crude rose about 7 percent while those for U.S. crude fell nearly 11 percent, both against their 30-day averages, according to Reuters data.

U.S. crude's losses came despite an EIA report showing a steep drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. The decline was blamed on the extended shutdown of offshore oil production due to Tropical Storm Lee.

"The DOE data was a mixed bag and even though crude fell more than expected, the market has ignored that." said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.

U.S. crude inventories fell 6.7 million barrels last week, the EIA said, more than twice the 3.1-million-barrel drawdown forecast in a Reuters poll. <EIA/S>

Gasoline stocks jumped 1.94 million barrels against the forecast for a 500,000-barrel decline, and distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose 1.7 million barrels, far more than the 700,000-barrel build forecast.

POOR DEMAND HITS U.S. GASOLINE

The unexpected rise in U.S. gasoline stockpiles last week came as government data showed that demand for the motor fuel fell to an eight-year low this summer.

U.S. gasoline prices were $1 a gallon higher from a year ago to average $3.62 this summer. U.S. gasoline demand fell 1.8 percent in the same period, Reuters calculations showed. U.S. retail sales stalled in August, raising more concerns about the economy relapsing into recession. That followed data showing zero growth in unemployment earlier this month.

Investors remain nervous about oil demand prospects following reduced estimates from forecasters, including the International Energy Agency, this week because of a weaker economic outlook.

Brent crude also has gained relative to U.S. crude because of production problems in the North Sea the past few months and due to the loss of crude from Libya since February.

This week, Britain circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would ease U.N. sanctions against Libya. If passed it would allow the OPEC member to begin exporting crude more easily.

(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Selam Gebrekidan in New York; Simon Falush and Alex Lawler in London; Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by John Picinich)