* Brent prices down for 4th day, lowest since Jul '13 * OPEC output rose to five-month high in July - IEA * China's implied oil demand down 2 pct last month (Adds Libya tanker details, updates prices) By David Sheppard LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil fell for a fourth straight day on Wednesday to its lowest in more than a year, dropping below $103 a barrel as strong supplies overshadowed fears of disruptions from violence in OPEC member Iraq. The international oil benchmark has fallen 11 percent since mid-June as the surge by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq has yet to lead to any major supply outages, while global crude output has been rising. Exports from Libya are recovering despite the worst violent unrest in the country since 2011, with the first tanker since the end of a year-long harbour blockade leaving the port of Ras Lanuf on Tuesday. Demand in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, also slipped last month, preliminary government data showed on Wednesday. "Brent prices have been in a steady decline and I think the background of that is that the market is forming the view that any supply disruptions are not on the immediate horizon," said chief market analyst Ric Spooner of CMC Markets. Brent for September delivery fell 10 cents to $102.92 a barrel by 1044 GMT. The contract, which expires on Thursday, dropped as low as $102.37, the weakest since July last year. The Brent contract for October delivery was down 11 cents at $103.78 a barrel. U.S. crude was down 3 cents at $97.34 a barrel, slipping for a second straight session. It narrowed its discount to Brent to the smallest in almost three weeks. Total output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to a five-month high above 30 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly oil inventories report at 1430 GMT. The agency said on Tuesday that U.S. crude production averaged an estimated 8.5 million bpd in July, the highest level since April 1987. Data from industry group American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories rose 229,000 barrels last week to 364.2 million barrels. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point of the U.S. crude benchmark, rose 469,000 barrels. IRAQ AND LIBYA SUPPLIES Brent prices have retreated in view of OPEC's ability to ramp up production and the absence of negative news on supplies despite the political conflicts, said Ben Le Brun, markets analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney. The unrest in Iraq has yet to disrupt significant amounts of oil from the second-largest producer in OPEC, though some small fields have been shut in the autonomous Kurdish region. The United States has sent around 130 additional military personnel to the country as Washington seeks to help Baghdad contain the threat posed by hardline militants from the Islamic State. In Libya, oil exports have been slowly recovering despite renewed violence between armed factions in the country. At least five people were killed by rocket attacks in Tripoli on Wednesday. On Tuesday, an oil tanker carrying 670,000 barrels of crude left Libya's Ras Lanuf oil terminal, the first shipment since the port was reopened following a year of blockades by armed protesters, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp said. CHINESE DEMAND SLIPS China's implied oil demand in July fell 6 percent from June and was down 2 percent from a year earlier at 9.57 million bpd, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data. Industrial output in China rose 9 percent in July from a year earlier, in line with market expectations, while retail sales climbed 12.2 percent, a shade below forecasts, the National Bureau of Statistics said. While recent Chinese data has pointed to strong manufacturing activity and exports, a weaker services sector and imports suggest more stimulus measures from Beijing may be needed to ensure a sustained recovery. (Additional reporting by Seng Li Peng in Singapore; Editing by Tom Hogue and Dale Hudson)

Source