NYMEX-Crude falls below $82 after hitting 8-week high

[christainpaul]

TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell below $82 a barrel on Thursday after hitting an eight-week high above $83 a day earlier on government data showing an unexpected decline in U.S. gasoline inventories.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for April delivery was down 28 cents at $81.81 a barrel by 2358 GMT, after settling up 60 cents at $82.09 a day earlier.
On Wednesday, it rose as high as $83.03, the highest since $83.95 on Jan. 11.
* Wednesday's gains came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed a surprise drop of 2.9 million barrels last week. [EIA/S]
U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles rose 1.4 million barrels, below the 1.9 million barrels rise that analysts had been expecting. Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.2 million barrels, far more than the 900,000 barrel draw predicted by the market.
* The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said it now thought the world would need 28.94 million barrels per day of its crude this year -- an increase of 190,000 bpd from its previous assessment. [ID:nLDE6291EF]
It said total world demand was likely to rise by 880,000 bpd in 2010, up from a previous estimate of 810,000 bpd.