NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures edged lower on Thursday as the dollar bounced in reaction to comments by the European Central Bank president and well supplied oil inventories kept crude futures' rise in check. "The inventory situation is still providing a bearish backdrop. But dollar fell very close to recent lows versus euro, providing a lift to energy. But all markets backing off earlier trends," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. The dollar extended gains against the yen while the euro pared earlier gains against the greenback as markets weighed mixed remarks from the European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet about possible exit strategies. [USD/] "Dollar is responding strongly to Trichet comments, so assets, like crude oil, that rose in response to its recent declines are now abiding the flip-side of that phenomenon," said John Kilduff, partner at Round Earth Capital in New York. For highlights of comments by the European Central Bank president and ECB Vice President Lucas Papademos at a news conference click [ID:nECBNEWS] U.S. government inventory data on Wednesday showed crude oil and gasoline supplies rose more than expected. [EIA/S] PRICES * On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:57 a.m. EST (1457 GMT), January crude CLF0 was down 11 cents, or 0.14 percent, at $76.49 a barrel, trading from $76.00 to $77.50. * In London, January Brent crude LCOF0 rose 30 cents, or 0.42 percent, to $78.18 a barrel, trading from $77.72 to $78.95. * NYMEX January RBOB RBF0 rose 0.25 cent, or 0.13 percent, to $1.9953 a gallon, trading from $1.9860 to $2.0157. * NYMEX January heating oil HOF0 rose 0.52 cents, 0.26 percent, at $2.0416 a gallon, trading $2.0257 to $2.0612. * The January/January RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at $7.26, after ending at $7.10 on Wednesday. The January/January heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $9.18, after ending at $8.93 on Wednesday. * The spread between the current front month and the five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $17.62, based on the January 2015 contract Wednesday settlement at $94.11. The spread ended Wednesday at $17.51. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $77.11/$77.84 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $74.40/$78.81 NYMEX heating oil: $1.9995/$2.0733 NYMEX RBOB: $1.95/$2.0350 For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nGEE5B2134] MARKET NEWS * The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in more than 14 months. Initial claims fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000. [ID:nN021776] * Angola has 13.1 billion barrels of oil in reserves, enough to sustain a constant production of 1.9 million barrels per day for the next 15 years, state-owned Jornal de Angola reported on Thursday. [ID:nGEE5B20FY] * Oil prices in the band of $70 to $80 a barrel were satisfactory and not expected to drop lower than that range in 2010, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah told reporters Thursday. [ID:nGEE5B21DE] * Kuwait sees consensus among fellow members of OPEC to keep the group's oil output levels unchanged at its December meeting, Kuwait's oil minister said Thursday. [ID:nGEE5B207D] (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Walter Bagley) ((robert.gibbons@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646 223 6059; Reuters Messaging: robert.gibbons.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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