* Equities, euro strengthen, boost oil futures
* Euro zone industrial output April rise helps lift oil
* U.S. says storm could form in the Atlantic supports oil
* Coming up: July Brent contract expiry on Tuesday (Recasts, updates prices, market activity, changes dateline from LONDON)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Monday, jumping above $75 a barrel, as optimism about global economic recovery boosted fuel demand expectations and sent stock markets and the euro higher.
"Follow-through strength in most global equity markets from last week and highest level in the euro in more than a week are forcing renewed buying interest back into the energy complex," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a research note.
At 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT), U.S. crude for July <CLc1> was up $1.82, or 2.47 percent, at $75.60 a barrel, having reached a $75.99 intraday high, which still had prices well below a 19-month high above $87 in early May.
in London, ICE Brent <LCOc1> for July delivery rose $1.52 to $75.87 a barrel. The Brent July contract expires on Tuesday.
Euro zone industrial production in April surged year-on-year more than in any month in almost two decades, data showed on Monday, reassuring investors the economic recovery could be gathering pace. [
]The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, said industrial output in the 16 countries using the euro rose 0.8 percent month-on-month for a 9.5 percent year-on-year gain.
Europe's strong industrial data pushed the Dow Jones Industrials and the Standard & Poor's 500 indexes up 1 percent in morning trading on Wall Street. [
]The euro <EUR=> rose to a one-week high against the dollar, which was down more than 1 percent against a basket of currencies <.DXY>.
A weaker U.S. dollar tends to boost the price of dollar-priced commodities as it lowers the price to holders of other currencies and reduces the value of the currency oil producers receive for their product.
"Some of the fears about the European debt crisis are easing," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp.
"If the dollar is falling, it means that people are more relaxed to take on risk. People have believed for a long time that the second half (of 2010) will be better than the first half," Nunan added.
European leaders will meet on Thursday to try to convince financial markets that Europe's debt crisis can be contained through improved economic policy coordination and budget discipline. [
]Though oil prices slipped on Friday, they managed to post a gain for the week, with U.S. crude prices up more than 3 percent on lift from strong Chinese export data and lower crude stockpiles [
] reported by the government.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday that a low-pressure system in the central Atlantic Ocean had a 60 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone over the next day or two, adding to support for oil. [
]OPTIMISM ABOUT DEMAND
Oil traders and analysts have been eyeing signs U.S. demand is showing better signs of recovery as the summer driving season heats up and distillate use improves.
After reaching a 19-month high above $87 a barrel in early May, crude futures fell below $65 a barrel later in the month as the European debt crisis unfolded.
Money managers raised their net long positions for crude oil in the week to June 8, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday, marking the first time the net long positions increased since the start of the euro zone crisis. [
] (Graphic http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/CFTC_Crude110610.gif)For prices to extend their upward march, U.S. crude would have to settle above $76, a level reached in intraday trade last week for the first time in a month, Nunan said, based on technical chart analysis.
Oil analysts also are anticipating U.S. crude oil output will be tightened from offshore drilling delays in reaction to BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. [
]"With the U.S. drilling ban likely to hit supplies from the third quarter onward and demand expected to rise seasonally between now and August, we feel that seasonality and fundamentals are moving towards a price rebound," J.P. Morgan analyst Lawrence Eagles said in a report. (Additional reporting by David Sheppard in London, Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore and Gene Ramos in New York; Editing by Walter Bagley)