(Rewrites lead, updates prices to settlement, adds analyst
comment)
* Dollar pulls back from three-month high
* $50/bbl seen as pivotal point for U.S. crude
* U.S. August crude contract expires
* Coming Up: API's U.S. oil inventory report at 2030 GMT
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures held on to
gains after a volatile session that saw the U.S. front-month
August contract expire and go off the board above $50 a barrel,
with a weaker dollar providing support.
Weak U.S. RBOB gasoline futures helped curb gains for crude,
especially Brent, traders said, as expectations that inventories
rose again last week weighed on prices.
The dollar .DXY retreated from a three-month high against
a basket of currencies on mild profit-taking and as the euro
rebounded as traders pared bearish bets as Greece started to
adopt measures to avert bankruptcy. ID:nL1N1011AH USD/
A rising dollar makes it more profitable for non-U.S.
investors to sell dollar-denominated assets and a weaker
greenback makes oil less expensive for consumers using other
currencies.
Expectations of more Iranian supply following last week's
agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and concerns that economic
worries in China and Europe will weigh on demand have put
pressure on oil this month.
Expiring U.S. August crude CLQ5 rose 21 cents to settle at
$50.36 a barrel, after slipping to $49.77 intraday.
U.S. September CLU5 crude settled at $50.86, up 42 cents.
Front-month U.S. crude dropped below $50 on Monday for the
first time since April and the front-month price is down 15
percent in July.
"Fifty dollars is almost a fault line for bulls and bears to
battle it out, but if you want to choke off U.S. production,
that price may have to move a bit lower. With $50 being that
support level, this is where we will get some buying coming in,"
BNP Paribas analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said.
Brent September LCOc1 crude rose 39 cents to settle at
$57.04, having swung from $56.33 to $57.44.
Brent's premium to September U.S. crude CL-LCO1=R remained
above $6 a barrel.
U.S. August RBOB RBc1 settled at $1.9209 a gallon, down
0.94 cent. It traded from $1.8902 to $1.9350, between its
100-day moving average of $1.9524 and its 200-day moving average
at $1.8591.
"We see further weakening in RBOB structure with nearby
futures testing the $1.85 support level again within the next
couple of sessions," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch &
Associates in Galena Illinois, said in a note.
U.S. gasoline stocks were expected to have risen 900,000
barrels last week, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters
ahead of the weekly industry and government inventory reports
due, respectively, late Tuesday and on Wednesday. EIA/S
Crude oil stocks were expected to have fallen 2.3 million
barrels.