* US crude stocks up by 9.4 mln bbls, higher than forecast
-API
* Brent finds some support above $49/bbl on China import
-traders
(Repeats to additional subscribers)
By Simon Falush
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Oil slipped more, nearing $49 per
barrel on Thursday, staying weak after a jump in U.S. stockpiles
shown in industry data the day before.
Brent LCOc1 eased 6 cents to $49.09 a barrel by 0753 GMT.
On Wednesday it hit a low of $48.71, the weakest since Oct. 5.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 42 cents to $46.22 a barrel after
settling down 2 cents at $46.64.
Data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute
showed U.S. crude stocks rose by 9.4 million barrels in the week
to Oct. 9 to 465.96 million, versus analyst forecasts for a 2.8
million barrels build. API/S
Some analysts pointed to further weakness in the months
ahead with a possible eventual interest rate rise in the United
States pushing the dollar higher, which makes oil more
expensive for holders of other currencies.
"So here is the set up: In December the Fed will hike rates
and OPEC will not cut output. In Q1 of 2016, global oil
inventories rise further and oil prices will drop," Bjarne
Schieldrop chief commodity analyst at SEB in Oslo told the
Reuters Global Oil forum.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets
in December. The produer group is expected to hold to its policy
of maintaining market share, highlighted by Saudi Arabia's push
into Russia's regional market ID:nL8N12E282
The world's big oil exporters pumped more than half a
billion barrels more crude than needed in the first nine months
of this year, industry data gathered by Reuters and major energy
market forecasters show.
In the first nine months of 2015, China's crude imports rose
8.8 percent to 248.62 million tonnes.
Traders said that Brent had found some support above $49 due
to the strong Chinese imports.
BMI Research, part of the Fitch ratings agency, said in a
note that China's crude oil imports would continue to grow over
the next five years at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent.
"This will be a result of higher refinery run rates to
produce gasoline and continued strategic stockpiling activity up
to 2020, which will help to override macroeconomic headwinds to
domestic crude demand," it said.