LONDON - Oil slipped towards $US82, consolidating after two days of gains as the dollar rose and ahead of a report expected to show an increase in US crude oil stockpiles. US crude for December was down 44 cents at $US82.08 by 1330 GMT after gaining almost $US2 in the previous two days. ICE Brent fell 30 cents to $US83.24. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) was due to release its weekly inventory report at 2030 GMT, while government statistics from the US Energy Information Administration will follow on Wednesday at 1430 GMT. Crude stockpiles in the United States probably rose by 1.4 million barrels the week ended October 22 as imports piled up, a Reuters poll showed. The gain in crude inventories was probably limited by higher refinery demand as refinery utilisation rose 0.3 percentage point to 82.8 per cent of capacity, the Reuters survey said. "The US oil data will be a reminder that the oil market is well supplied and that prices over $US80 per barrel are not driven by fundamentals," Commerzbank oil analyst Carsten Fritsch said. Oil also came under some pressure from a rise in the dollar , which has tended to move inversely to commodities. Crude prices are more dependent on dollar fluctuations than at any time in the past 14 months as speculation intensifies that the US Federal Reserve will embark on a fresh round of monetary stimulus to boost recovery. The inverse correlation between the dollar and oil has become deeply entrenched, partly because investors have been buying emerging market shares and commodities as the dollar has dropped. French strikes US distillate stockpiles are likely to have dropped by 1.9 million barrels for a fourth consecutive week of declines, while gasoline inventories were seen rising by 500,000 barrels for a second straight week of gains, the Reuters poll said. Prolonged strikes in France probably dragged larger amounts of distillate fuel from the United States, contributing to the expected stock draw, analysts said. Oil refinery strikes in France against unpopular pension reforms lost steam on Tuesday, with walkouts ending at several plants and unions sounding keener on talks with employers than pursuing the showdown. Fuel was leaving four of France's 12 oil refineries after barricades were lifted. Workers at three refineries have ended their two-week strike action, although port strikes were still preventing crude oil from reaching the plants. The strike at the Fos-Lavera oil terminals in southern France was blocking 60 oil tankers on Tuesday, including 40 crude tankers, the port of Marseille said. China will raise retail fuel prices by about 3 per cent from Tuesday in its first hike in seven months, a move bringing prices back to near record highs but unlikely to dampen oil demand in the world number-two consumer. Analysts said the hike would probably have limited impact on Chinese oil demand and on international prices. "The Chinese move is already fully discounted by the market," said Mr Fritsch at Commerzbank.

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