* Labor action in Britain, U.S. supports crude prices
* EIA data shows less demand in November
* Market eyes U.S. economic indicators due later on Monday
(Updates prices, adds South Korea's export data)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Oil futures rose near $42 a barrel
on Monday, buoyed by threats of major strikes by refinery
workers in the United States and Britain, but the gains were
tempered by concerns of sagging global energy demand.
Signs from OPEC late last week that it may augment its
record output cuts to stem the collapse of more than $100 in
prices, and an abrupt end to a ceasefire in Nigeria's oil-rich
Niger delta also supported prices, analysts said.
U.S. light crude for March delivery <CLc1> rose 22 cents to
$41.90 a barrel by 0400 GMT, after gaining as much as 63 cents
in early trade. The contract settled 24 cents higher at $41.68
on Friday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 42 cents to $46.30.
"The slew of economic and oil demand data which came out of
the U.S. last week was all pretty negative energy demand
outlook," said David Moore, a commodity analyst at the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"But threats of refinery strikes on both sides of the
Atlantic are probably giving oil some support."
United Steelworkers negotiators and oil company
representatives returned to the bargaining table on Sunday, one
day after telling thousands of U.S. refinery and chemical plant
workers to stay on the job as they try to hammer out a new
national contract. []
The USW decided on Saturday night to extend the current
pact on a rolling 24-hour basis to keep talks going without a
nationwide strike.
In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday condemned
nationwide wildcat strikes over the use of foreign workers, but
unions warned more staff may down tools this week.
[]
But fears of a deep global recession and a tumble in world
energy consumption continue to unsettle investors.
A report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on
Friday showed U.S. oil demand in November was 305,000 barrels
per day less than previously estimated and was down 1.577
million bpd from a year earlier.
Data also showed U.S. gross domestic product fell at a 3.8
percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the biggest drop
since the first three months of 1982. []
Bleak economic data from South Korea, which showed its
January exports shrinking by a record pace, also raised fears
of a prolonged economic recession. []
Oil markets were expected to closely eye Monday's U.S.
economic indicators to gauge how the world's largest economy
was faring. Data due to be released include personal income and
consumption, construction spending for December and the
Institute for Supply Management's January index of
manufacturing activity.
OPEC secretary general Abdullah al-Badri told Reuters on
Friday the producer group was willing to cut output further at
its meeting in March, adding to agreed cuts of 4.2 million
barrels per day since September to prop up prices
[].
Oil prices were also bolstered after Nigeria's main
militant group warned of a "sweeping assault" on the country's
oil and gas industry on Friday, saying it was calling off a
ceasefire after a military strike on one of its camps.
[]
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
