UPDATE 10-Oil prices slide near 2% after surprise U.S. crude stock build

* U.S. crude stocks rise 2 mln bbls, vs 1.3 mln forecast
draw -EIA
* API also said U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week
* Traders booking tankers to store oil
* OPEC+ meeting due Sept. 17

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to post-settlement)
By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices slid nearly 2% on
Thursday after U.S. data showed a surprise build in crude
stockpiles last week related in part to ongoing reductions at
refineries along the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Laura.
Brent futures LCOc1 fell 73 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at
$40.06 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 fell 75 cents, or 2.0%, to settle at $37.30.
After the market close, WTI briefly traded down over $1 a
barrel and Brent was down as much as 99 cents.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude
inventories rose 2.0 million barrels last week. EIA/S
ENERGYUSA
That confirmed the direction of the 3 million-barrel
increase reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API), but
was a surprise compared with the 1.3 million-barrel decrease
that analysts forecast in a Reuters poll. "Today's crude data looked bearish ... with about the only
supportive element being the fact that the 2 (million-barrel)
build was less than that indicated by the API," said Jim
Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena,
Illinois, noting prices could fall further unless Gulf of Mexico
refiners fully restart soon after shutting for Hurricane Laura.
Brent and WTI futures dropped to their lowest since mid June
earlier this week and have remained in oversold territory over
the past several days. Brent's Relative Strength Index (RSI) was
under 30 for a fifth straight day for the first time since
March.
In China, Bank ANZ said oil imports were likely to level off
as independent refineries reach their maximum quotas.
In a further bearish sign, leading commodity traders were
booking tankers to store crude oil and diesel.
The rising stockpiles come ahead of a meeting on Sept. 17 of
the market monitoring panel of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group
known as OPEC+.
"Despite the recent slide in oil prices, we think that the
OPEC+ leadership will continue to direct its efforts towards
securing better compliance rather than pushing for deeper cuts
at this stage," RBC analysts said.