(Corrects GMT time in third paragraph)
* U.S. crude oil futures lowest since March 2009
* Lower yuan puts downward pressure on commodities - Goldman
Sachs
* North Sea Brent crude still above 2015 lows
By Lisa Barrington
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil fell to its lowest
in almost six-and-a-half years on Friday as huge stockpiles and
refinery shutdowns heightened concerns about global oversupply
and slowing economies in Asia.
Oil had already tumbled more than 3 percent on Thursday,
driven by a report that stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the
delivery point for U.S. crude futures, rose more than 1.3
million barrels in the week to Aug. 11. ID:nL1N10O1B9
U.S. crude CLc1 was down 24 cents at $41.99 a barrel by
0945 GMT. The contract earlier hit an intraday low of $41.35,
its lowest since March 4, 2009.
Brent crude LCOc1 traded at $49.12, down 10 cents and some
way off its 2015 low of $45.19 reached in January. The
front-month September Brent contract expires on Friday.
U.S. crude is much weaker than the North Sea benchmark,
partly due to refinery outages sapping U.S. demand. The largest
of those refineries - BP PLC's BP.L 413,500-barrels-per-day
(bpd) facility in Whiting, Indiana, shut two-thirds of its
capacity for repairs that could last a month or more.
Robin Bieber, director and technical analyst at London
brokerage PVM Oil Associates, said the U.S. crude oil contract,
also known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, had become
somewhat dislocated from Brent.
"The contracts are not all on the same technical page and
this causes a lack of clarity," Bieber said. "WTI could plunge
but the rest hold steady."
Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) analyst Carsten Fritsch said he didn't expect an
accelerated drop in prices, but rather "a slow grind lower":
"As long as (Whiting) refinery is out of service this will
add to stocks in the U.S. which is WTI's main driver now."
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said a weaker Chinese yuan was putting
downward pressure on all commodity markets, signalling a change
in global macroeconomic conditions.
"We believe the net commodity market effects are bearish,"
it said in a note to clients. ID:nL5N10P04P
Analysts said prices could drop further still unless oil
production started to fall, particularly in North America.
"The lowest crude prices in six years might not be enough to
put the brakes on the U.S. supply growth. U.S. shale players are
actively cutting costs and some players are profitable at less
than $30 per barrel," ANZ Bank said.
On the demand side, China's crude oil imports have so far
remained strong as authorities take build up strategic reserves
and consumers keep spending despite the slowing economy.
(Editing by Christopher Johnson)