Oil climbs towards $ 62 on U.S. oil stock drop

LONDON, Mar 8 (Reuters) Oil rose towards on Thursday after climbing two percent the previous session on news of lower crude and gasoline stocks in top consumer the United States.

U.S. crude was up 15 cents a barrel at .97 a barrel by 0941 GMT, extending a .13 gain on Wednesday and nearing levels seen before last week's cross-asset sell-off.

London Brent crude was up 12 cents at .62.

U.S. crude stocks fell 4.8 million barrels last week, against analysts forecast for a rise, after fog along the Gulf Coast refining and transit hub disrupted imports. [EIA/S] ''The market took this as bullish, despite the fact that the delayed crude arrivals will probably show up in imports and stocks next week and possibly the week after,'' said Michael Wittner, global head of energy market research at Calyon.

A fall of 3.8 million barrels in gasoline stocks was much deeper than analysts had expected. Summer is the peak demand season for motor fuel in top consumer the United States.

''The latest weekly oil data have added to the evidence of a significant degree of market tightening relative to normal patterns,'' Barclays Capital said.

Oil is about half a dollar higher than on Feb. 27, just before a global flight from risk began. A drop in Chinese stocks, fears of a U.S. economic slowdown and a rally in the Japanese yen fed investors' anxiety.

Once the negative sentiment spillover from the equity markets subsides, U.S. crude prices could quickly move to the a barrel level, reflecting healthy global oil demand, First Energy Capital said in a report.

Crude supply news also captured traders' attention, with Cyclones George and Jacob off the Australian cost shutting down at least 180,600 barrels per day (bpd) of production, almost half of the country's oil production. [ID:nSYD250854] In Alaska, BP Plc said it had resumed production at its 47,000-bpd offshore Northstar field after a three-week closure due to a pipeline leak. [ID:nN07261280] REUTERS CS SSC1538