UPDATE 8-Oil prices continue slide as U.S. data feeds fuel demand worry

* Weak U.S. jobs data and fuel demand pressure prices
* Upcoming refinery maintenance to hurt crude demand
-analysts
* Wall Street slides as investors flee risk
*

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By Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled lower on
Thursday, at one point touching their lowest since early August
as U.S. unemployment data fed fears of a slow recovery for the
economy and fuel demand a day after weak U.S. gasoline demand
data.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 36 cents, or 0.8%, to
$44.07 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1
futures were down 14 cents, or 0.3%, at $41.37 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell more than 2% earlier in the session.
U.S. stock prices sank as investors sold high-flying tech
stocks and worried about economic recovery after Labor
Department data showed the number of Americans filing new claims
for unemployment reached a seasonally adjusted 881,000 for the
latest week. Continuing claims remained high, with millions out
of work. A day earlier both oil benchmarks fell more than 2% after
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed
domestic gasoline demand last week fell to 8.78 million barrels
per day (bpd) from 9.16 million bpd a week earlier. Consumption
of other oil products also fell. EIA/S
"The market failed to react positively to the drawdown in
inventories and then threw in the towel for the Labor Day
weekend," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in
Chicago.
Analysts warn that upcoming refinery maintenance and the end
of the summer driving season could also limit crude demand.
WTI crude has come under pressure "after U.S. refiners
earmarked a long list of maintenance closures over the coming
months that will no doubt impact demand for crude oil", ANZ
Research said in a note on Thursday.
Due to shutdowns ahead of Hurricane Laura, U.S. refinery
utilization rates fell by 5.3 percentage points to 76.7% of
total capacity, the EIA said. Some analysts believe processing
will not rebound in the fall. "Refineries running at low run rates will leave a lot of
crude oil on the sidelines. That crude oil goes to storage.
Bloated storage puts pressure on prices," said Bob Yawger,
director of energy futures at Mizuho.