UPDATE 10-Oil prices gain nearly 2% after drop in U.S. crude inventories

* U.S. crude stocks drop 10 mln barrels as imports slow -
EIA
* U.S. Gulf Coast crude imports hit record low - EIA
* Brexit jitters boost dollar, caps oil's gains
* Graphic on U.S. inventories: https://tmsnrt.rs/2y7dfqh

(Adds price settlement, details)
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 2% on
Wednesday after a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude
stockpiles helped ease worries about weakening oil demand caused
by the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled 98 cents, or 1.7%,
higher at $60.49 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1
ended at $55.78 a barrel, rising 85 cents, or 1.6%.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week by 10 million
barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of
2.1 million barrels, as imports slowed, the Energy Information
Administration said. EIA/S
"There's a lot of big numbers here, but it's all on the
import number, which is pretty impressive," said Bob Yawger,
director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.
Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell by 1.51 million
barrels per day to 2.9 million bpd, while imports in the Gulf
Coast region dropped to their lowest on record at 1.2 million
bpd. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about
7 million bpd, 12.3% less than the same four-week period
last year.
U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 2.1 million
barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll
for a 388,000-barrel drop.
"It was an incredibly bullish report, one of the more
bullish we've had in a while, with draws across the board and of
course the massive crude oil drop, which was generated by
another drop in imports," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again
Capital in New York. That draw down was likely due to a drop in
Saudi exports to the U.S, Kilduff said.


Brexit jitters boosted U.S. dollar .DXY , which generally
moves inversely with oil prices, which limited oil gains,
Kilduff said. USD/
The dollar rallied as Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to
suspend Britain's parliament for more than a month before
Brexit, enraging opponents and raising the stakes in the
country's most serious political crisis in decades.

Concerns about the impact of the U.S.-China tariffs war on
demand also kept oil prices from rising more.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believed
China was sincere about wanting to reach a trade deal, while
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said China was willing to resolve
the dispute through "calm" negotiations.
On Tuesday, however, concerns resurfaced after China's
foreign ministry said it had not heard of any recent telephone
call between the United States and China on trade, and that it
hoped Washington could create conditions for talks. Crude prices have fallen about a fifth from 2019 highs hit
in April, partly because of worries that the trade war is
hurting the global economy and could dent oil demand.
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday lowered its price outlook for
the rest of the year for Brent to around $60 per barrel from $65
and for U.S. crude to $55 per barrel from $58 as it downgraded
its demand growth forecast for this year and next. For a factbox on oil price forecasts click <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CHART: Brent oil may extend gains into $60.44-$60.72 range
L3N25O06W
GRAPHIC: U.S. crude inventories https://tmsnrt.rs/2y7mC9g
CHART: U.S. oil signals mixed L3N25O0TN
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