* No date for restarting Enbridge pipeline
* Global equities rise on China data, dollar falls
* Coming up: API's U.S. crude inventory data Tuesday
(Updates prices at settlement, market activity, adds crude
inventory poll)
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 1
percent to a one-month high on Monday, spurred by an extended
shutdown of a major Canada-U.S. crude pipeline and strong
Chinese demand growth and industrial output.
U.S. crude for October delivery <CLc1> settled up 74 cents
at $77.19 a barrel, the highest settlement price since Aug. 11.
In London, Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 87 cents to $79.03 a
barrel.
Brent posted a premium of more than $3.50 a barrel to U.S.
crude last week, its highest since mid-May, but this was at
$1.84 by Monday's close.
Enbridge Inc's <ENB.TO> Line 6A pipeline carrying Canadian
crude oil to U.S. refineries and a crucial oil hub in Cushing,
Oklahoma, remained shut as workers continued digging around a
leaky section of pipe in Romeoville, Illinois, near Chicago.
[]
No date has been set for restarting that pipeline or
another, smaller Enbridge line that was shut six weeks ago.
"I think today's rise is carry-over from Friday with the
Enbridge pipe outage. Equities were stronger early on and the
dollar is getting cremated against the euro, which is adding
support," said Richard Ilczyszyn, senior market strategist at
Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphic on Enbridge's pipeline configuration:
http://link.reuters.com/qyz52p
Graphic on volume of crude stored in Cushing
http://link.reuters.com/mys82k
Reuters Insider interview with Genscape VP
http://link.reuters.com/zur72p
FACTBOX Refineries affected by line outage []
FACTBOX Oil pipelines feeding the Midwest []
FACTBOX History of Enbridge pipeline spills []
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Data from China, the world's second-largest oil user, also
boosted prices. 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."
A weak dollar and stronger equity markets also helped
bolster crude prices on Monday. The oil market has spent much
of the year in lockstep with equities and negatively correlated
to the U.S. dollar.
U.S. stocks rose to their highest level in nearly six weeks
on Monday after the upbeat Chinese factory data and a deal on
global bank rules that gives lenders more time before they must
raise additional capital. The dollar headed for its biggest
daily slide against the euro in two months as the Chinese data
boosted currencies of countries like Australia that are big
sellers to China.
News that Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco may respond to
economic recovery by increasing output of crude helped knock
crude off its earlier highs. []
"The news that Aramco would be ready to increase production
as they say demand has bottomed had a calming effect on crude
futures prices," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at PFGBest
Research in Chicago.
PIPELINE
The suspension of shipments on Enbridge's 6A Line had the
potential to reduce flows to Cushing by around 300,000 barrels
per day, according to JP Morgan oil analysts, taking into
account the potential to pump crude via alternative routes to
the delivery point for U.S. crude futures.
Six weeks ago, Enbridge was forced to shut another
pipeline, a smaller part of its Lakehead system, which the U.S.
government has not yet allowed to resume operations following
heightened scrutiny because of BP's <BP.L> Gulf of Mexico
spill.
The market was awaiting weekly U.S. crude inventory data
from the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, on
Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on
Wednesday. Analysts in a preliminary Reuters poll forecast a
decline of 2.3 million barrels in crude inventories due to the
Enbridge pipeline outage. []
Hurricane Igor churned westward in the Atlantic Ocean on
Monday as a dangerous Category Four storm and could strengthen
even further, forecasters said, though the storm posed no
immediate threat to energy interests. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Marie-Louise
Gumuchian in London, Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing
by Walter Bagley)
