By Paddy Gourlay Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Oil futures are higher Friday morning for the third day running, reversing earlier losses along with European equities, as the market waits for the revision of U.S. second quarter growth figures. Crude prices hit intraday lows in the first 10 minutes after opening Friday, and edged sideways for most of the morning until an uptick around 0930 GMT. The U.K. has revised up its second quarter growth figures, its strongest performance in nine years, and futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. Market attention will focus on the revision of U.S. second quarter growth figures at 1230 GMT, and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about monetary easing. "Indications of additional quantitative easing may boost sentiment," said Filip Petersson, an analyst at SEB Commodity Research, as a weaker dollar boosts oil prices. Meanwhile, European crude futures are continuing to build a premium over their U.S. counterparts, reflecting the sluggish oil demand and record high crude and oil-product stockpiles in the world's largest energy consumer. At 1200 GMT, the front-month October Brent contract on London's ICE futures exchange is 50 cents higher at $75.52 a barrel. The front-month October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange, called West Texas Intermediate, is trading 36 cents higher at $73.72 a barrel. October Brent is now $1.80 a barrel higher than October WTI, extending a premium that increased more than 60 cents Thursday. Front-month Brent started trading above front-month WTI on Aug. 16. European fundamentals have been improving this week, with complex refinery margins in North West Europe gaining around $2 a barrel above their four-week average, and a rising differential price for the physical benchmark Dated Brent. The October/November Brent timespread is trading at around minus 36 cents Friday morning, narrower by around 4 cents on Thursday, reflecting improving demand for North Sea crude barrels. In contrast, the October/November WTI timespread has widened by around 11 cents to minus 97 cents Friday, after weekly oil inventory data from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday revealed crude stockpiles increased 4.1 million barrels last week. Two hurricanes, called Danielle and Earl, have formed in the Atlantic, but are unlikely to head toward the oil-producing Gulf of Mexico region, according to the National Hurricane Center, which would have drawn down the U.S. stockpiles. Some analysts are sceptical that this week's rebound in crude prices can hold without signs of improving U.S. economic growth. "We are however not yet convinced that this was anything else than a dead-cat bounce, given the lack of follow through buying to test the resistance of $74.00 a barrel WTI yesterday and given the continued pressure on the S&P," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix. The ICE's gasoil contract for September delivery is $2.50 higher at $642 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for September delivery is 0.95 cents up at 191.80 cents a gallon. -By Paddy Gourlay, Dow Jones Newswires, +44 (0)20-7842-9364; patrick.gourlay@dowjones.com

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