* Oil jumps 2.2 pct on Alaska pipeline leak, then retreats
* Short-term supply threat, longer-term regulatory risks
* Euro zone woes add pressure on world stocks []
* Iran says no need for emergency OPEC meeting
(Adds analysts, updates prices)
By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Alejandro Barbarosa
LONDON/SINGAPORE, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Oil traded around 1
percent higher on Monday after a leak shut an Alaskan pipeline
that carries 12 percent of U.S. crude output, but gains were
capped by a stronger dollar due to worries about Portugal's
debt.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline was shut down on Saturday because
of a leak in Prudhoe Bay, forcing oil companies to cut output to
5 percent of their daily average of 630,000 barrels.
[]
The shutdown of one of the key U.S. oil arteries sent crude
prices leaping early in Asia by almost $2 to $89.98 a barrel,
although prices eased to $88.87 at 1330 GMT.
"Of course a pipeline with a magnitude like that is
supportive for crude prices. It is normal that first the market
reacts a bit too much. But then it is a question of how long the
line will be closed," said Hannes Loacker, an oil analyst at
Raiffeisen Bank International.
"It is of course a problem for North America, but it
wouldn't justify a price increase by 2 or 3 percent ... Today
most (financial) markets are facing some minor losses. So this
is like the other side of the coin," Loacker added.
"This adds to what happened in the Gulf of Mexico at a time
when U.S. regulators are still looking at regulations around oil
drilling," said Ben Westmore, a commodities analyst at National
Australia Bank.
"Events like this carry risks around future regulation that
could dramatically reduce supply on a more permanent basis than
this temporary outage. There is a possibility the risk is pretty
substantial for the (oil futures) market."
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For a list of incidents at the pipeline: []
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BULLISH POTENTIAL
Traders said that if the outage lasted longer than a week or
two, it has the potential to be very bullish. One noted that
most of the pipeline's previous problems had been fixed quickly,
but in the post-Deepwater Horizon world, approvals to restart
could take longer after accidents.
"An extended shutdown should have a price positive impact on
Brent before (U.S. crude) WTI due to the location of the US
supplies being affected," said Olivier Jakob from Petromatrix.
Gains in Brent crude <LCOc1> were in line with gains in U.S.
crude as it rose 78 cents $94.07, keeping Brent's premium to WTI
at $5.4 or close to a seven-month high.
Iran, holder of the rotating OPEC presidency, said on Monday
it was comfortable with the rising oil price and there was no
need for any emergency OPEC meeting. []
Data from China showed the world's largest commodities
consumer imported 239.31 million tonnes of crude oil in 2010, up
17.5 percent from 2009, but the growth could slow in 2011
[].
On the foreign exchange front, the euro hovered near
four-month lows against the dollar on Monday on mounting worries
about Europe's debt crisis, after a source said Portugal was
under growing pressure to accept EU/IMF aid.
A senior euro zone source told Reuters on Sunday that
pressure was growing on Portugal from Germany and France to seek
financial help from the European Union and International
Monetary Fund to prevent the bloc's debt crisis spreading.
[]
Traders said the European Central Bank threw Portugal a
temporary lifeline by buying up its bonds []
The dollar index against a basket of currencies <.DXY> was
up 0.1 percent at 1344 GMT, capping gains in oil prices.
Technically, oil still looked weaker and oil will end the
current rebound and fall back to Friday's low at $87.25 as a
downward wave "C" has not been completed, according to Reuters
technical analyst Wang Tao said. []
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Graphic:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/WT/20111001083830.jpg
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(Editing by Jane Baird and Sue Thomas)
