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jueves 15 de mayo, 09:31 AM

LONDRES (Reuters) - El petróleo subía el jueves, impulsado en parte por un debilitamiento del dólar frente al euro, tras datos que mostraron un fuerte crecimiento económico en Francia y Alemania.

El crudo estadounidense subía 55 centavos, a 124,77 dólares el barril. Las opciones del contrato para entrega en junio vencen el jueves.

En Londres, el crudo Brent para entrega en junio -que también expira al cierre de la jornada- ganaba 64 centavos, a 122,50 dólares el barril.

El petróleo retrocedió el miércoles desde el récord cercano a los 127 dólares el barril alcanzado en la jornada previa, presionado por un informe gubernamental que mostró que los inventarios estadounidenses de destilados crecieron más de lo esperado la semana pasada.

Los datos aliviaron las preocupaciones sobre la estrechez que refleja el mercado de los destilados, que impulsaron a los futuros del combustible para calefacción a un máximo histórico previamente en la semana.

La apreciación del euro contra el dólar ayudaba a que los precios se recuperaran. El desempeño del crudo y del dólar ha estado sumamente relacionado en los últimos meses, porque muchos inversores han optado por los futuros del petróleo para protegerse contra el debilitamiento del dólar.

(Por Jane Merriman, editado en español por Patricia Vélez)

REUTERS PV 10:18 15May2008 RTRS-UPDATE 5-Oil near $126 a barrel, eyes dollar (Adds OPEC report, updates prices)

By Jane Merriman

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Thursday, boosted partly by weakness in the dollar versus the euro after strong economic growth data from France and Germany.

U.S. crude was up $1.55 a barrel at $125.77 by 1410 GMT.

London Brent, whose nearby June contract expires later on Thursday, was up 92 cents at $122.78.

Oil had retreated on Wednesday from a record high near $127 a barrel reached in the previous session, pressured by U.S. government data that showed a bigger-than-expected rise last week in distillate stocks.

The data eased concern about a tightening distillates market that has sent heating oil futures to record highs this week.

Strength in the euro against the dollar helped prices recover.

The dollar was further undermined by data showing U.S. industrial production fell 0.7 percent in April, reflecting the biggest drop in the manufacturing sector since September 2005.

Oil and the U.S. currency have become closely intertwined in recent months as investors have turned to oil as a hedge against the falling dollar.

But strong emerging market demand and supply constraints are the main forces behind oil doubling in price in the past year.

The commodities rally is generally based on a lack of supply and increasing demand from developing countries, said Angus McPhail, of UK investment manager Alliance Trust.

"OPEC is holding back," he said, referring to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries output controls, while oil companies are slow to bring on more oil. "It's not an easy, quick fix."

OPEC has rebuffed calls from consumer countries to increase output, and has pointed to the weak dollar and speculative inflows into commodities as reasons for high prices.

SAUDI VIEW

Oil's rise has more to do with financial market volatility than fundamentals, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Thursday, according to the text of a speech obtained by Reuters.

"The short-term oil price gyrations seen in recent years are more closely tied to the internal logic of the financial markets than to underlying supply/demand fundamentals," Naimi said.

OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report provided more evidence that record oil prices are slowing demand growth.

The exporter group trimmed its forecast for the increase in world oil demand in 2008 to 1.16 million barrels per day, 40,000 bpd less than its previous forecast.

Investment bank UBS raised its projection for oil prices on Thursday. The bank's oil economist Jan Stuart raised its 2008 U.S. crude forecast to $115 a barrel.

The forecast for this year is the most bullish among banks polled by Reuters. UBS previously was the most bearish forecaster in the poll last updated on April 25. (Additional reporting by Maryelle Demongeot in Singapore and Alex Lawler in London; editing by James Jukwey)