SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Oil was steady near
one-month highs ahead of inventory reports expected to show
crude stock draws as the shutdown of the biggest Canada-U.S.
pipeline enters a fifth day.
FUNDAMENTALS
* U.S. crude for October <CLc1> declined 6 cents to $77.13
at 0110 GMT, after settling at a one-month high on Monday,
having earlier touched an intra-day peak at 78.04, the highest
since Aug. 11. ICE Brent <LCOc1> gained 4 cents to $79.07.
* U.S. crude inventories likely fell by 2.3 million barrels
last week, their second straight weekly drop, due to lower
imports following Enbridge's Line 6A outage, an initial Reuters
poll ahead of weekly inventory reports showed on Monday.
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* As of Monday, there was still no estimate of when the
troubled duct would be restarted, but workers were preparing to
cut the problem section and replace it. []
* The suspension of crude shipments through the damaged
line has the potential to reduce flows to the key pricing point
of Cushing, Oklahoma, by about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd),
according to J.P. Morgan oil analysts, taking into account the
possibility of pumping crude through alternative routes.
* Line 6A was shipping 459,000 bpd when it leaked on
Thursday, about two-thirds of its 670,000 bpd total capacity.
* Distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel, rose
about 300,000 barrels last week, after two weeks of drawdowns,
the poll showed, while gasoline inventories fell about 400,000
barrels.
* The industry group American Petroleum Institute will
issue its report for the week to Sept. 10 on Tuesday, at 2030
GMT, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration will
follow with government data on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.
* In the week to Sept. 3, EIA data showed that total U.S.
commercial crude and product inventories climbed to a new peak
of 1,143,500,000 barrels, rising some 200,000 barrels from the
week before. The total represents the highest inventory levels
since at least 1990, when the government began issuing weekly
data. []
MARKETS NEWS
* Asian stocks were set to make a strong start on Tuesday,
as global equities rallied a day earlier on less onerous new
bank rules, while upbeat Chinese data eased fears of another
downturn for the global economy. []
* The dollar was on the defensive near a 15-year low
against the yen as traders look to a Japanese ruling party
leadership vote in which the prime minister faces a challenge
from a proponent of more aggressive stimulus. []
* The dollar was also near a one-month low against a basket
of currencies after suffering its steepest fall against the
euro in two months the previous day on rising risk appetite
from investors.
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday:
- 0430 GMT Japan Industrial output rev Jul
- 0900 GMT Germany ZEW economic sentiment Sep
- 1145 GMT U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly
- 1230 GMT U.S. Retail sales mm Aug
- 1400 GMT U.S. Business Inventories Jul
- 2030 GMT U.S. API weekly oil stocks to Sep 10
RELATED NEWS
* Hurricane Igor churned westward in the Atlantic Ocean as
a dangerous Category 4 storm and could strengthen even further
on Monday, forecasters said. Igor was strong enough to cause
catastrophic damage but posed no immediate threat to land or
energy interests. []
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; Editing by Manash Goswami)
