* Brent back at around $50 territory after 6-month low on
Monday
* U.S. crude above $45 after 4-month bottom in previous
session
* Rebound unlikely to hold due to supply/demand outlook -
analysts
* API says U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.4 mln barrels
last week
(Adds API report on U.S. crude inventories, paragraphs 6-7)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Global crude prices rose from
multi-month lows on Tuesday, helped by a stock market rally in
No. 2 oil consumer China, but abundant supply and a weak demand
outlook make crude's rebound unlikely to hold, traders and
analysts said.
Brent, the world benchmark for oil, and U.S. crude settled
up for the first time in four sessions, a day after Monday's 5
percent rout triggered by weak factory activity in China.
ID:nL3N10E1KE
While the recovery was aided by an overnight rise in Chinese
equities - and the short-covering normal after a selloff in oil
- the widening gulf between demand for crude and projected
supply could negate any rally, traders said. ID:nL3N10F1D3
The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Paris-based
International Energy Agency and the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries will give their monthly updates
next week on barrels per day (bpd) of oil needed by the market
versus that in storage or under production.
In July, OPEC's output reached the highest monthly level in
recent history, a Reuters survey found. ID:nL5N10A3WL
Offsetting at least some of that bearish sentiment, the
American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude
inventories fell by 2.4 million barrels last week, more than the
1.5 million barrels forecast by analysts in a Reuters survey.
ID:nZXN04IL00 EIA/S
The report, coming after Tuesday's market close and ahead of
official inventory data on Wednesday, helped Brent and U.S.
crude futures extend gains slightly in post-settlement trade.
Brent LCOc1 settled up 47 cents, or 1 percent, at $49.99 a
barrel. It hit a six-month low on Monday, coming within cents of
its 2015 bottom of $49.19.
U.S. crude CLc1 finished up 57 cents, or 1.3 percent, at
$45.74. It plumbed a four-month bottom of $45.17 the previous
session, about $3 from the year low.
Crude has come under pressure from signs of too much supply
and too little demand.
OPEC, which includes Saudi Arabia and other major crude
producers, has been producing about 1.7 million bpd in surplus
since deciding in November to favor market share over price
defense.
The ensuing glut knocked Brent down 18 percent in July. U.S.
crude tumbled even more, 21 percent, for its biggest monthly
decline since the 2008 financial crisis.
"The bigger picture still points to a retest of 2015 lows,"
Matt Smith, director of commodity research at New York energy
database ClipperData, said, adding that next week's "triumvirate
of monthly oil-specific reports" could be the catalyst.