* Igor strengthens, no storms set to enter Gulf of Mexico
* Technicals show U.S. crude above $78 []
* Coming Up: Eurozone industrial output for July; 0900 GMT
(Updates prices, changes dateline, PVS SINGAPORE)
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Oil rose to a one-month high on
Monday, spurred higher by strong Chinese demand growth and
industrial output, while an extended shutdown of a major
Canada-U.S. crude pipeline tightened supply.
U.S. crude for October <CLc1> climbed as much as $1.05, to
$77.50 a barrel, the highest price since Aug. 12, and was up 85
cents at $77.30 by 0844 GMT. Brent <LCOc1> rose 11 cents to
$78.27.
Chinese factories ramped up production by a higher than
expected 13.9 percent in August as the economy of the world's
second-largest oil user remained buoyant despite government
efforts to clamp down on bank lending. []
Reflecting accelerating industrial activity, China's implied
oil demand rose by 7.4 percent in August from a year earlier.
[]
"The Chinese data was overwhelmingly positive," said Ben
Westmore, a commodities analyst at National Australia Bank.
"China is in a soft landing after all the stimulus, and
emerging economies are growing quite strongly. In terms of oil
use, that portends strong demand in the coming months."
Enbridge's <ENB.TO> Line 6A, connecting Canadian production
with refineries in the Midwest and the pricing hub for the U.S.
crude benchmark at Cushing, Oklahoma, remained shut following a
leak on Thursday.
No date has yet been set for restoring flows through the
670,000 barrel per day (bpd) duct, which can carry 7-8 percent
of total U.S. crude imports. [] []
"One of the big concerns has been the stocks at Cushing,"
Westmore said. "The longer the pipeline is down, the more likely
it is that these stocks are going to fall and the market tighten
in that area."
ENVIRONMENTAL OVERSIGHT
Canada is the largest oil exporter to the U.S. and
Enbridge's pipelines carry the bulk of that. The shutdown of the
company's biggest line might reduce a glut in Cushing storage.
A section of the pipeline will have to be removed so the
repair can be made, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
said. That section will have to be replaced and inspections done
by federal regulators before use of the line can resume.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic on Enbridge's pipeline configuration:
http://link.reuters.com/qyz52p
For a factbox on the history of Enbridge's pipeline spills
in the U.S. []
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Six weeks ago, Enbridge was forced to shut 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 posted a premium of more than $3.50 a barrel to U.S.
crude last week, its highest since mid-May, but that had shrunk
to less than $1 on Monday.
Hurricane Igor strengthened rapidly over the Atlantic Ocean
on Sunday, becoming a large and dangerous Category 4 storm, but
its forecast trajectory kept it in the Atlantic heading towards
Bermuda at least for the next five days, away from oil and gas
infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in SINGAPORE,
Erwin Seba in HOUSTON and Aizhu Chen in BEIJING; editing by
Keiron Henderson)
