* Supply glut and China 'hard landing' fears weigh
* API shows draw in U.S. crude oil inventories
* Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Wood River refinery cooling tower collapses
* Coming Up: EIA stocks data at 10:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT)
(Updates details, paragraphs 1, 12)
By Lisa Barrington
LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Oil stabilised on Wednesday after
China moved to support the country's economy and stronger than
expected U.S. durable goods data was released, but prices stayed
near 6-1/2-year lows as a heavy supply glut kept market outlook
bearish.
"Oil is catching its breath a bit and seeing if markets have
been oversold or not," Capital Economics commodities economist
Thomas Pugh said.
U.S. durable goods orders rose 2 percent in July, going
against a 0.4 percent contraction forecast by the Reuters
analyst consensus, U.S. government data said on Wednesday.
ID:nLLAQJEBR5
Brent LCOc1 was up 30 cents at $43.51 a barrel by 1300
GMT, and U.S. crude CLc1 was up 10 cents at $39.41 a barrel.
Oil has lost a third of its value since June on high U.S.
production, record crude pumping in the Middle East and concern
about falling demand in Asian economies.
On Monday, both crude oil benchmarks saw their lowest trades
since early 2009, dropping as much as 6 percent in one session
after heavy falls in equity markets.
"The trend remains down, but in an erratic phase where
attempts to recover are being made," PVM Oil Associates director
Robin Bieber said.
China has cut interest rates and lowered the reserves banks
must hold and injected 140 billion yuan into banks through
short-term liquidity operations to calm fears about a severe
economic slowdown.
ANZ said China's rate cuts had calmed commodity markets, but
they remained cautious and gains would be limited as global oil
oversupply is likely to persist in the short term.
Pugh at Capital Economics said he thought the oil market was
"already pricing in a worst case scenario in China at the
moment", adding: "I'd be surprised if we drop much further."
But physical oil traders say the physical market remains
stubbornly weak, with the global crude oil glut proving
difficult to clear. ID:nL5N11046L
In the United States, a fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU)
is shut and another is running at lower rates at Phillips 66
PSX.N Wood River, Illinois 336,000 barrel-per-day refinery
after a cooling tower associated with the gas plant collapsed on
Tuesday. ID:nWNAB083LA
U.S. crude stocks fell by 7.3 million barrels last week to
449.3 million as refinery runs increased, compared with
analysts' expectations for a rise of 1 million barrels, industry
data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
API/S
U.S. government oil stockpiles data are due later on
Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration.