* Brent hits lowest since early Feb; WTI touches 4-month low
* OPEC oil output hits new high in July
* Iran says to raise output by 500,000 bpd once sanctions
lifted
* China manufacturing growth unexpectedly stalls in July
By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Oil extended losses on Monday
on worries of oversupply as the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries pumped at record levels in July, while weak
China data stoked concerns about slower growth at the world's
second largest oil consumer.
Saudi Arabia and other key members of OPEC show no sign of
wavering in their focus on defending market share instead of
prices, as the group's oil output hit the highest monthly level
in recent history in July, a Reuters survey
showed. ID:nL5N10A3WL
The lack of a plan by OPEC to make room for the return of
more Iranian oil fuelled supply worries. Iran expects to raise
output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) as soon as sanctions are
lifted and by a million bpd within months, Oil Minister Bijan
Zanganeh said in remarks broadcast on Sunday. ID:nL5N10D01N
"The market seems to again focus on the supply situation ...
one of the difficulties is that Iran may be coming back and
there is no obvious sign that OPEC will make room for them," Ric
Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney said.
Brent LCOc1 fell 44 cents to $51.77 a barrel by 0213 GMT
after touching an intraday low of $51.50, the lowest since Feb.
2. It is on its longest weekly losing streak since late 2014.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 36 cents to $46.76 a barrel after
hitting the lowest in four months at $46.35. Front-month prices
lost 20.8 percent in July, the biggest monthly drop since
October 2008.
Hedge funds and other speculators have slashed their bullish
exposure to U.S. crude to the lowest in nearly five years, trade
data showed on Friday, as local drillers continue to add rigs
and pump at full throttle despite a global oil glut.
ID:nL1N10B2X0 RIG/U
Growth at China's big manufacturing companies unexpectedly
stalled in July as demand at home and abroad weakened,
an official survey showed on Saturday, adding to worries from a
recent slump in Chinese stock markets. ID:nL3N10C03N