Oil stays near 8-month high on U.S. inventory draw

TOKYO, June 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices stood steady near their
highest level in about eight months, helped by industry data
showing a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. crude
inventories and worries about attacks on Nigeria's oil industry.
London Brent crude for August delivery LCOc1 was down 2
cents at $51.42 a barrel by 0108 GMT, after settling up 89 cents
on Tuesday. It earlier touched $51.55, the highest since Oct.
12.
NYMEX crude for July delivery CLc1 was up 4 cents at
$50.40 a barrel, after closing up 67 cents on Tuesday to settle
above $50 for the first time since last July.
U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 3.6 million
barrels last week, data from industry group American Petroleum
Institute showed on Tuesday after the market settlement,
compared with expectations for a 2.7 million barrel draw
according to a revised Reuters poll. API/S EIA/S
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue
official inventory numbers at 1430 GMT on Wednesday.
Worries about global supply disruptions also supported the
market, analysts said. The southern Delta swamps in Nigeria have
been hit by militant attacks on oil and gas pipelines which have
brought the African nation's oil output to a 20-year low.

Nigeria government said it will scale down a military
campaign in the oil-producing Niger Delta and talk to a militant
group. Nigeria's oil output was between 1.5 million and 1.6
million barrels a day, down from 2.2 million barrels at the
start of the year.
But concerns about global demand weighed on prices. The
World Bank slashed its 2016 global growth forecast on Wednesday
to 2.4 percent from the 2.9 percent estimated in January due to
stubbornly low commodity prices, sluggish demand in advanced
economies, weak trade and diminishing capital flows.

The EIA on Tuesday raised its 2016 U.S. oil demand growth
forecast, citing that demand will grow by 220,000 bpd from
140,000 bpd previously.
Japan's economy grew faster than initially estimated in the
first quarter, data showed on Wednesday, as capital spending
fell less than was first reported, but worries remain over slow
consumer spending and weak exports.
The market was waiting for China trade data due later in the
day.