Oil rose above $76 on Thursday, closing in on an all-time high, as investors expected U.S. refinery snags and slower imports to drain gasoline and crude stocks in the world's biggest consumer.
U.S. crude climbed 42 cents to $76.15 a barrel by 1117 GMT, after gaining 65 cents on Wednesday. London Brent crude was up 34 cents at $74.68 a barrel.
Weekly U.S. data to be released later on Thursday were expected to show a 500,000 barrel decline in crude inventories after Hurricane Dean disrupted Mexican oil exports. Gasoline stocks were seen falling 1.3 million barrels in the week ending August 31.
"We believe that the pace and the scale of the ongoing tightening process will keep markets focused on the outturn of today's statistics and make prices prone to further gains should evidence of increased tightness emerge," said Barclays Capital.
A string of unplanned outages in the ageing U.S. refining system has created tightness in the gasoline market this summer and inventories have been steadily drawn down.
Supply concerns were heightened by expectations the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain output curbs when it meets on September 11 in Vienna.
OPEC officials have said oil's renewed run towards its record high of $78.77 was due to a shortage of refined products and boosting crude oil output would only add to what they call comfortable stock levels.
OPEC's president hammered home that message on Thursday.
"I think the market is very well balanced," Mohammed al-Hamli, also oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters on Thursday. "There is no shortage whatsoever of oil supplies."
Some analysts see stronger demand in the fourth quarter, causing a supply crunch unless OPEC raises output.
An OPEC source told Reuters the group may have to raise output by up to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) later this year. OPEC production in August was just over 30 million bpd, according to a Reuters survey.
Traders were also keeping an eye on the storm season in the Gulf of Mexico, with the Colorado State University forecasting more storms ahead.
(Reuters)