TOKYO, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices inched up on Tuesday, 
supported by declining exports from southern Iraq. 
    Oil exports from southern Iraq have fallen by 110,000 
barrels per day this month, according to shipping data and an 
industry source, adding to the drop in flows caused by a 
shortfall from the northern Kirkuk fields when Iraqi forces 
retook control from Kurdish fighters who had been there since 
2014.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1MY3R3 
    The drop in northern Iraqi shipments has supported global 
oil prices in recent days. But southern exports, the outlet for 
most of the country's crude, have been stable in recent months, 
making the decline unexpected. 
    London Brent crude for December delivery  LCOc1  was up 6 
cents at $57.43 a barrel by 0055 GMT after settling down 38 
cents on Monday. 
    U.S. crude for December delivery  CLc1  was up 3 cents at 
$51.93, having settled up 6 cents. 
    Crude oil exports through the Iraqi Kurdistan 
controlled-pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan rose 13 
percent to 288,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Monday afternoon, 
less than half the normal levels, a shipping source told 
Reuters. 
    U.S. crude inventories likely fell by 2.5 million barrels 
last week, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles also 
probably fell by at least 1.5 million barrels, a preliminary 
Reuters poll showed on Monday ahead of data by the Industry 
group the American Petroleum Institute later in the day.  EIA/S  
 API/S  
 
 (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford) 
 ((osamu.tsukimori@thomsonreuters.com, +813 6441 1857, Reuters 
Messaging: osamu.tsukimori.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;)) 
 
Keywords: GLOBAL OIL/