* 6th day of losses in oil, Brent down 10 pct on week
* Dollar hits 2-week high on Brexit, U.S. rate hike fears
* Crude pares loss on sterling rebound, tumbles again after
close
* U.S. crude draws offset by worries of more oil at $50
(New throughout, updating market activity and comments to
settlement)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices slumped about 4
percent and hit one-month lows on Thursday, settling down for a
sixth straight day, on fears of global economic turmoil if
Britain exits the European Union.
It was the longest slide for oil since early January, when
prices fell seven days in a row before hitting 12-year lows
below $30 a barrel on worries about a global crude glut.
This time around, a resurgent dollar is hammering crude
futures and other commodities on speculation that Britain could
vote to end its EU membership. MKTS/GLOB
The dollar .DXY hit two-week highs, then eased back on the
sterling's GBP= strength as Britain suspended campaigning over
its EU membership status after a deadly attack on a Member of
Parliament.
Oil pared losses as the sterling rose, but crude tumbled
again in post-settlement trade to reach new lows on the day.
Brent crude futures' front-month contact LCOc1 settled
down $1.78, or 3.6 percent, at $47.19 per barrel. In
post-settlement trade, it fell to as low as $46.94, its lowest
since May 12.
Brent has lost about $5 a barrel, or around 10 percent, over
the past six sessions. Prior to that, it hit an eight-month high
of nearly $53 on supply disruptions out of Nigeria and Canada.
The front-month in U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
futures CLc1 settled down $1.80, or 3.8 percent, at $46.21 a
barrel. It got to a May 13 low of $45.91 after the close.
Drawdowns in U.S. crude inventories over the past month have
not provided much support to oil with investors focused more on
a possible rise in production as Brent and WTI traded above $50
a barrel each. U.S. energy firms added rigs drilling for oil for
a second week in a row last week. RIG/U
"While oil is obviously getting swept up in the bearish tide
of declining equities, falling bond yields and firming dollar,
we also see a gradual turn in global oil balances more conducive
toward $45 crude than levels above $50," said Jim Ritterbusch of
Chicago-based oil markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday
domestic crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell 933,000 barrels
last week, less than half the 2.3-million-barrel decrease
forecast.
On Thursday, market intelligence firm Genscape reported a
weekly decline of 76,317 barrels in stockpiles at the Cushing,
Oklahoma delivery point for WTI futures, traders who saw the
data said. In the previous week, Genscape reported a drawdown of
299,058 barrels at Cushing.