* Bullish June U.S. service sector data lifts oil, Wall
Street
* Traders wary of gasoline glut, tumbling refining margins
* Seventh weekly drop in U.S. crude stockpiles forecast
* Coming up: API crude inventory data at 2030 GMT
(New throughout, adds latest prices, comments on rebound and
gasoline's drag on market)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 1 percent on
Wednesday as robust U.S. economic data helped lift crude futures
from two days of declines, although analysts cautioned of more
pressure from a gasoline glut and Britain's exit from the
European Union.
The pace of growth in the U.S. service sector was the
fastest in seven months in June, an industry report showed.
The data alleviated some concerns over the Brexit impact on
global growth, boosting both share prices on Wall Street .SPX
and crude futures that have lost about 5 percent or more in the
past two sessions. .N
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 48 cents, or 1 percent,
at $48.44 a barrel by 12:56 p.m. EDT (1656 GMT), reversing a 1
percent drop from earlier in the day.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 51 cents, or 1 percent, to
$47.11 a barrel, after hitting a session low at $45.92.
Oil prices also rose in anticipation that the U.S.
government will report on Thursday a seventh straight weekly
drop in crude stockpiles, traders said.
A Reuters poll forecast crude inventories fell 2.3 million
barrels for the week ended July 1. The American Petroleum
Institute (API) will issue its own report on domestic oil
stockpiles at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), before Thursday's
official data.
"Big selloffs before oil statistics have a tendency to get
some correction and that's what we saw today," said Pete
Donovan, broker at Liquidity Energy in New York.
Crude futures fell earlier on worries of U.S. gasoline
oversupplies.
The profit for turning U.S. crude into gasoline
1RBc1-CLc1 , known as the gasoline "crack," hit a February low
under $13 a barrel, amid the motor fuel's glut and despite
record number of motorists expected to have hit the roads during
the July 4 holiday weekend.
Gasoline stocks in the U.S. East Coast, home to the New
York Harbor which serves as delivery point for the motor fuel,
hit a record high of 72.5 million barrels for the week ended
June 24. Vessels carrying gasoline-making components could not
unload at New York Harbor this week due to lack of space.
Jitters over Brexit had also weighed on oil as the pound hit
31-year lows after three British property funds were suspended
amid a rush of redemptions by investors.
.N MKTS/GLOB
"Neither the gasoline glut nor Brexit is going away for
now," said David Thompson, executive vice-president at
Washington-based commodities-focused broker Powerhouse.