UPDATE 7-Oil slips on coronavirus fears, strong dollar

* China's economy picked up in fourth quarter
* Libyan oil output cut by 200,000 bpd
* Stronger dollar weighs on prices

(Updates prices)
By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell slightly on
Monday as a stronger dollar, fears over soaring COVID-19 cases
around the world and the slow pace of vaccination against the
coronavirus outweighed a better-than-expected quarterly rebound
for China's economy.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 23 cents, or 0.4%, at $54.87
per barrel at 1720 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude
CLc1 fell 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $52.17.
"Corona-induced economic fears, a stronger U.S. dollar and
more pessimistic investor sentiment are all playing their part
in the fact that Brent is trading ... around $3 lower than last
Wednesday," said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg.
The benchmarks had rallied in the past few weeks, buoyed by
COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and a surprise cut in output by Saudi
Arabia. But the slow pace of vaccination has raised doubts over
how soon economies could recover.
A UK official said Britain's vaccine rollout was limited by
a "lumpy" manufacturing process, and Pfizer Inc PFE.N said it
was distributing fewer doses of its vaccine in Europe in January
than originally contracted. "Vaccination campaigns, although ongoing, are lagging the
speed needed to fast-track a global recovery in the first
quarter and the comeback for oil demand will be slow," said
Rystad Energy's head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen.
The U.S. dollar strengthened for a third consecutive day on
Monday to a four-week high, weighing on crude prices. Oil is
usually priced in dollars, so a stronger dollar makes crude more
expensive for buyers with other currencies. Security concerns ahead of this week's U.S. presidential
inauguration are also dragging on investor sentiment, said PVM
Oil analyst Tamas Varga. "In addition to the coronavirus running amok, this week's
tense presidential inauguration can also cause unease amongst
investors," he said.
Oil prices clawed back some losses after Chinese data showed
the economy of the world's biggest oil importer picked up speed
in its recovery from the pandemic. Prices also found support in a drop in Libyan oil output,
with Waha Oil Company reducing production by up to 200,000
barrels per day because of maintenance on the main pipeline that
links the Al-Samah and Al-Dhahra oilfields to Es Sider port.
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CHART: U.S. oil may test support at $51.35 Brent oil may slide more to $54.07 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>