NYMEX crude over $98 on US rescue plans, US Gulf woes

                                
 (To see the day's top energy news click [TOP/O])
                                
 TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose
further on Friday, buoyed by efforts to solve the U.S. financial
crisis and due to problems restarting refineries and restoring
oil production after hurricanes in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
                                
 * Front-month U.S. crude for October delivery <CLc1> was up
77 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $98.65 a barrel on the Globex
electronic trading platform. It had settled up 72 cents, or 0.7
percent, at $97.88 on Thursday.
                                
 * U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been promoting a
proposal to congressional lawmakers to create an entity to deal
with bad debt, similar to what was done in the U.S. savings and
loan crisis of the 1980s. [ID:nN18311838]
                                
 * The market was also getting a lift from continued energy
supply disruptions in the United States in the wake of hurricanes
Gustav and Ike.
                                
 Some 93 percent of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico
-- source of a quarter of the nation's crude output -- remained
idled on Thursday along with about 14.5 percent of the nation's
refined fuel capacity.
                                
  For Factbox on the hurricanes, click on [ID:nN16482689].
                                
 * Morgan Stanley, a major player in the energy markets,
withdrew from the Platts benchmark oil trading window in Asia on
Thursday, steering clear of a possible test of its credit
acceptance among counterparties in an anxious oil market.
[ID:nSP138295]
                                
 * Nigerian militants said on Thursday they had attacked
another oil pipeline in the Niger Delta, hours after the newly
appointed chief of defence staff sought to rally troops in the
region. [ID:nLI166946]
                                
 * Traders will be looking towards U.S. economic indicators
due later on Friday including the Economic Cycle Research
Institute's weekly index of economic activity, to gauge how the
economy of the world's largest oil consumer is faring.
To read the previous day's closing market report, click [O/R]
Diary of upcoming energy news and events -- [O/DIARY]
 Oil prices as of 0009 GMT          
 Contract Mnth    Price  Change  Day ago     pct     MA-20*
 NYMEX Contracts
 US Crude OCT8   $98.65   +0.77   +$0.72  +0.74%    $108.14
 Heat Oil OCT8   280.95   +2.71    -4.23  -1.50%     303.86
 RBOB     OCT8   250.75   +2.51    +1.94  +0.79%     278.55
 Natgas   OCT8   $7.620  -0.001  -$0.289  -3.65%     $7.680
 ICE Contracts
 Brent    NOV8     NA             +$0.35  +0.37%    $105.89
 Gasoil   OCT8     NA            +$19.25  +2.19%    $973.28
 Note: U.S. heating oil and RBOB gasoline contracts listed in
cents per gallon.
 * = 20-day moving average for continuation month.
 (Reporting by James Topham)