FIN: UPDATE 5-Oil slips to $111 as supply outweighs Mideast
* U.S. Secretary of State Clinton flying to Israel
* Moody's downgrades France's sovereign rating
* Coming Up: API U.S. oil inventory data (Adds quote, updates prices)
By Peg Mackey
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Oil fell to $111 a barrel on Tuesday as ample supplies outweighed worries over fighting between Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East.
Concern over the well-being of Europe's economy also pressured oil and other commodities after ratings agency Moody's stripped France of its prized triple-A badge due to an uncertain fiscal and economic outlook.
Brent crude was down 70 cents to $111.00 per barrel by 1430 GMT. U.S. crude fell 95 cents to $88.33.
"The market has not over-reacted to the situation as there is no shortage of oil anyplace in the world and the area of the Middle East under question is not the oil producing region of the Middle East," Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at Energy Management Institute in New York said in a research note.
"Thus at the moment there is no imminent threat for an interruption in the supply of oil."
Investors are waiting to see if fighting subsides as world pressure intensifies for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to the region with a message that escalation of the week-long conflict was in nobody's interest.
Some 110 Palestinians have died in a week of fighting, the majority of them civilians, including 27 children. Three Israelis died last week.
A peaceful outcome would see oil easing.
Jefferies Bache analysts estimate oil has a $2.50 to $3 per barrel premium due to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
"As far as the geopolitical issue is concerned, we feel that odds tilt in favour of some type of ceasefire or truce that could quickly force as much as $1-$.50 of security premium out of the market," they said in a research note.
Oil's downside was checked by escalating violence in the Middle East and as investors grew more hopeful that a U.S. budget crisis would be averted. Brent crude rose 2.5 percent on Monday to its highest since mid-October.
Global stock markets and commodities drew support from expectations that U.S. lawmakers will reach a deal to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts due to start in January - the "fiscal cliff" that threatens to send the U.S. economy back into recession.
Traders are now eyeing U.S. oil inventory data. A Reuters poll of analysts showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen by 900,000 barrels in the week to Nov. 16. (additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey)