* Trans Alaska pipeline shut, no restart date set
* U.S. heating demand seen up this week, lifts heating oil
* Coming up: API inventory data, 4:30 p.m. EST Tuesday
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices and market activity)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices rose more than
1 percent on Monday after a weekend leak shut the Trans Alaska
Pipeline and forced producers to cut output to about 5 percent
of their daily average of 630,000 barrels.
A government forecast for U.S. heating demand to be well
above normal this week [] helped U.S. heating oil
futures post the strongest percentage gains in the oil futures
complex.
U.S. crude oil for February delivery <CLc1> rose $1.22, or
1.39 percent, to settle at $89.25 a barrel, trading from $88.13
to $89.98.
In London, ICE Brent crude for February <LCOc1> rose $2.37
to settle at $95.70 a barrel, having traded as high as $95.88.
The discovery of a leak at a pump station booster in
Prudhoe Bay on Saturday shut the Alaska pipeline, which carries
nearly 12 percent of domestic crude output. []
Alaska state and U.S. regulators said on Monday they had no
restart timetable. Alaska regulators said the plan was to build
a bypass line and use it to restart the system.
[]
There was some expectation that government regulators on
guard after the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill last spring
could take more time than usual to allow a pipeline restart.
Lawrence Eagles of JP Morgan said that from an engineering
perspective, he doubted any shutdown would last more than two
to three days.
"However, government inspectors are likely to want a more
comprehensive understanding of the cause," he said, adding that
the outage could last a week or more as a result.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a list of incidents at the pipeline: []
MAP: Alaska pipeline leak http://r.reuters.com/pyx55r
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
BRENT/U.S. CRUDE SPREAD
London's ICE Brent rose more than U.S. oil and the spread
between Brent and U.S. crude prices <CL-LCO1=R> seesawed,
narrowing early then widening.
The premium of Brent over U.S. crude reached $6.54 a barrel
intraday, nearing last Thursday's $6.56 peak, the widest since
May 3, 2010. The spread had narrowed to $5.30 on Friday based
on settlement prices.
The Brent/U.S. spread was narrower for March and other
months further out.
Analysts and brokers have had various reasons for Brent's
high premium, including high crude oil stockpiles at the
Cushing, Oklahoma oil hub, delivery point for the NYMEX light
sweet crude contract. []
If the Alaska pipeline outage drags on, analysts said,
physical traders would seek alternatives, making it a more
bullish issue for Brent than for U.S. crude.
EURO/DOLLAR VOLATILE
Dollar strength limited oil's gains early as concerns about
Portugal's debt weakened the euro, but the euro later recovered
and the dollar index <.DXY> fell.
The euro underwent a technical correction after falling to
lows not seen since mid-September. []
A weaker dollar can lift dollar-denominated oil prices
because it lowers the value of the money paid to producers and
makes oil less expensive for consumers using other currencies.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London and
Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson)
