* U.S. crude stocks rose by 7.6 mln bbls last week -EIA
* Analysts in Reuters poll expected build just below 3 mln
bbls
* Brent, U.S. crude prices down about 7 pct or more on week
(New throughout; updates with latest market moves and details
of drop in refinery runs)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 1
percent on Thursday, down for the fourth day as the U.S.
government reported a larger-than-expected crude stockpile
build.
Some analysts said the slide could have been even steeper if
not for a bigger-than-expected drawdown in gasoline supplies.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude
inventories rose by 7.6 million barrels for the week ended Oct
9. EIA/S
That was more than double the build of 2.9 million barrels
expected by analysts in a Reuters poll, although lower than the
9.3 million barrels indicated by industry group American
Petroleum Institute (API) in a report on Wednesday.
ID:nL3N12D5HP API/S
The crude build comes amid lower processing of oil in the
United States as refiners shut for maintenance after the peak
summer driving season.
Gasoline stockpiles fell by 2.6 million barrels as less of
the motor fuel was turned out last week. Refinery utilization in
the U.S. Midwest fell to the lowest on record since 2010, EIA
data showed.
"The rebound in gasoline demand is the bright spot in this
report," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research for
Clipper Data, an energy database and consultancy.
Still, prices of U.S. crude and global oil benchmark Brent
were down about 7 percent or more on the week, after losses
since Monday on worries about record OPEC production.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12C22M
U.S. crude's front-month contract, November CLc1 , was down
64 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $46 a barrel by 12:26 p.m. EDT
(1626 GMT).
Brent's most-actively traded contract, December LCOc2 ,
fell by 25 cents, or half a percent, to $49.44.
Brent's November contract LCOc1 , which expires at
Thursday's settlement to be replaced as front-month by the
December contract, fell by 60 cents to $48.55.
Relentless OPEC supply has weighed on crude prices. Still,
some analysts said lagging U.S. shale output may boost prices in
the near-to-medium term.
"We believe the downside potential for oil prices is limited
and expect to see moderately rising prices in the coming weeks
and months," said Carsten Fritsch at Commerzbank (DE:CBKG).
"After all, there are increasing signs that non-OPEC supply
is already decreasing noticeably as a consequence of the low
prices."
John Kilduff, a partner at New York energy hedge fund Again
Capital, disagreed.
"The low refinery runs will continue to allow crude oil
inventories to rise significantly over the next several weeks,
resulting in further downward price pressure," Kilduff added.