* Shell says restart of Brent platforms unclear
* IEA revises up slightly 2011 oil demand growth view
* Restarted Alaska pipeline expects 500,000-bpd throughput
(Recasts, updates prices and market activity)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Brent oil rose on Tuesday,
climbing closer to $100 a barrel on concerns about North Sea
crude supplies while the resumption of Alaskan oil flows helped
ease U.S. crude prices.
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> shut four Brent North Sea oil
and natural gas platforms on Saturday and did not have a
restart time. []
While the platforms produce only 20,000 barrels per day
(bpd), they add to recent concerns about the availability of
crude priced against the London Brent futures contract.
Trading sources reported oil trader Hetco has taken control
of the first eight North Sea Forties crude oil cargoes loading
in February and two Brent cargoes, in a "trading play" giving
it significant influence over the Brent spot market.
[]
In London, ICE Brent crude for March <LCOc1> rose 37 cents,
to settle at $97.80 a barrel. Before expiring on Friday, the
Brent February contract reached $99.20, which was the highest
front-month price since Brent reached $100.31 on Oct. 1, 2008.
Brent's bounce on Tuesday came after its 92-cent fall on
Monday, a U.S. holiday that kept U.S. crude trading only for
the Tuesday trade date priced against Friday's settlement.
U.S. crude oil for February delivery <CLc1> fell 16 cents
to settle at $91.38 a barrel on Tuesday in seesaw trading
between $90.55 and $91.90. The February contract expires on
Thursday.
"Brent is leading because the premium to WTI is expected to
widen again and Shell shut some production platforms and
because of the attraction of Brent as it nears $100 a barrel,"
said Robert Yawger, senior vice president, energy futures at MF
Global in New York.
The discount for U.S. crude futures' benchmark West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) against Brent <CL-LCO1=R> remained strong at
more than $5 a barrel, but below the $8 level hit before the
February Brent contract expired on Friday.
Total Brent trading volume was above 475,000 lots,
according to Reuters data, well above the 250-day average of
381,136 lots. U.S. crude volume was 648,148 lots traded with
two hours of post-settlement trading left on Tuesday, below the
250-day average of 680,102 lots and well below Friday's total
of over 902,000 lots traded, according to Reuters data.
ALASKA RESTART
U.S. oil eased on news Alaska's crude pipeline had
restarted following the installation of a bypass around a
leaking section which shut the line on Jan. 8.
The line was transiting 510,000 bpd, and was expected to
resume full throughput of 600,000 to 630,000 bpd in five to
seven days. []
Brent also received support from the euro's bounce and the
International Energy Agency forecast for higher oil demand
growth. The euro rose against the dollar on buying by sovereign
funds and strong German data, though concerns about Europe's
debt problems helped pare the gains. []
Germany's ZEW headline economic sentiment indicator surged
to its highest reading in six months. []
A weaker dollar can lift dollar-denominated oil prices
because it lowers the value of currency paid to producers and
the price of oil for consumers using other currencies.
The IEA raised its 2011 world oil demand growth forecast by
80,000 barrels per day to 1.41 million bpd in its monthly
report. []
The agency also said some OPEC members appeared to have
boosted production and that the group's output may quietly
increase before the group's next scheduled meeting.
[]
Investors are awaiting weekly U.S. oil inventory data to
gauge the effect of the Alaska outage. U.S. crude stocks were
expected to have slipped, while products stockpiles were seen
rising, according to a Reuters survey of analysts. []
The weekly reports will be delayed a day following Monday's
national holiday in the United States. []
(Additional reporting by Jessica Donati and Barbara Lewis in
London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;editing by Sofina
Mirza-Reid)
