* IEA trims 2011 oil demand growth forecast by 50,000 bpd
* Front-month US crude strengthens relative to Brent, curve
* Enbridge pipe leak size, shutdown duration still unclear
(Repeats to additional subscribers)
(Updates prices)
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. crude rose more than $1 to
over $75 on Friday due to the shutdown of a major pipeline, but
a leading forecaster said demand would remain tepid.
The International Energy Agency said global oil demand
growth was expected to increase a little this year but slip in
2011 and that fuel consumption could be much weaker if the world
economy slows. []
Front-month U.S. crude for delivery in October <CLc1> rose
$1.43 to $75.68 a barrel at 1220 GMT after earlier approaching a
three-week high near $76. It touched $75.96 on Thursday, the
highest intraday price since Aug. 19.
The November contract <CLc2> added 90 cents to $76.69.
Brent crude <LCOc1> gained 12 cents to $77.59.
"What could become a game changer is the ... leak on the
Enbrige pipeline because it comes on top of another disruption
they had on another pipeline," Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix
said.
A leak forced Enbridge to shut down the biggest pipeline
supplying Canadian oil to refineries in the U.S. Midwest and to
a key storage hub in Oklahoma.
Canada is the largest oil exporter to the U.S., and
Enbridge's pipelines carry the lion's share of that crude.
Enbridge Inc <ENB.TO> closed its 670,000 barrel-per-day
(bpd) Line 6A, the largest of the company's major three, after a
leak was discovered near Romeoville, Illinois. The duct accounts
for 7-8 percent of total U.S. crude imports. []
Six weeks ago Enbridge was forced to shut down another
smaller part of its Lakehead system, which the U.S. government
has not yet allowed to resume operations following heightened
scrutiny because of BP Plc's <BP.L> Gulf of Mexico spill.
BRENT PREMIUM SHRINKS
The market was little moved by the IEA figures, Jakob said,
adding they were similar to those in last month's report.
The IEA said global oil supply was more than sufficient to
meet demand, highlighting high levels of industry stocks across
the developed world.
Record stockpiles in the United States have this month
depressed the price of U.S. benchmark crude relative to European
Brent <LCOc1>. The Enbridge pipeline shutdown might help ease a
glut at the Cushing, Oklahoma, pricing point, which is chiefly
supplied with Canadian oil.
Brent posted its biggest premium to WTI since mid-May
earlier this week at more than $3.50 a barrel, shrinking on
Friday to about $1.90.
"We don't know the timeline for when the leak is likely to
be fixed. We're likely to see more draws in Cushing than was
previously expected," Amrita Sen of Barclays Capital said.
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Graphic of Enbridge system: http://link.reuters.com/qyz52p
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Though the size of the Enbridge spill or the duration of the
outage are not yet known, fire officials said the line was shut
and the oil had been contained.
Storms are expected to cause losses of about 20 million more
barrels of U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico
before the Atlantic hurricane season ends on Nov. 30, the Energy
Information Administration said Thursday. []
World stocks measured by MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> were up 0.02 percent. The dollar was down 0.07
percent against a basket of currencies. <.DXY>
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Alison Birrane and Jane Baird)
