* U.S. drillers cut activity for 2ns straight month
* But demand side weakens as global car sales fall
* Kuwait sets October OSP crude price 60 cents lower
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Oil markets were fairly
stable in early Asian trading on Monday, with U.S. crude
contracts receiving support from reduced American drilling,
although falling global car sales weighed on international
markets.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading at $44.86 per barrel
at 0049 GMT, up 23 cents from their last settlement, pushed by a
slight fall in drilling activity.
" Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) reported U.S. oil rig count fell 10 to 652
last week. The consecutive second decline suggests a low price
environment coupled with low oil price hedge is starting to
impact U.S. supply," ANZ bank said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday that a
cut in production from non-OPEC suppliers, especially from the
United States, would lead to a rebalancing of the market by next
year. ID:nL5N11H0SC
Despite this, the outlook for global oil markets remained
weak due to strong production clashing with stalling demand,
creating a market in which more oil is produced than needed.
The global crude benchmark Brent LCOc1 was trading at
$48.16 a barrel, virtually flat from its last close.
ANZ said strong supply from the Middle East remained a
concern on the supply side, while Macquarie bank noted that
falling auto sales in August were acting as a drag on demand.
"Sales were 1.0 percent lower YoY (year-on-year), slightly
more than the 0.8 percent fall seen in July 2015," the bank
said, although it added that sales could pick up towards the end
of the year.
In part due to oversupply and to defend market share, Middle
East supplier Kuwait set its October Official Selling Price
(OSP) for crude oil to Asia 60 cents lower compared with
September at a discount of $1.95 per barrel versus Oman/Dubai
prices. ID:nL4N11K055
(Editing by Richard Pullin)