* AIG rescue helps calm financial turmoil
* Several offshore U.S. oil platforms toppled by Ike
* U.S. crude stocks seen falling
(Recasts, updates prices)
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Oil rose on Wednesday after the
U.S. government rescue of American International Group calmed
global markets and on rising concerns about the impact of
Hurricane Ike on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. crude <CLc1> traded up $2.22 at $93.37 a barrel at 1343
GMT, off a session high of $95.00, after turmoil in global
financial markets sent crude down 10 percent in two days to a
seven-month low.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> gained $2.35 to $91.57.
Turmoil in financial markets, following Lehman Brothers'
filing for bankruptcy protection and fears over the survival of
AIG, sent investors out of commodities and into safer havens
such as the yen and government bonds.
An $85 billion dollar U.S. lifeline for AIG gave some
respite to battered financial stocks on Wednesday. []
"I think it was a flight of capital out of the futures
markets and now we are coming back to fundamentals," said Simon
Wardell of Global Insight in London.
"I think a lot of that (investor) cash is out of commodities
and will stay out," said Wardell. "We've had outages in the Gulf
of Mexico, and I think a lot of that was overlooked."
Hurricane Ike toppled several platforms in the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico and left a swathe of the nation's crude oil and refined
fuel production idled in the biggest hit to energy supplies
since 2005. []
ECONOMIC CONCERNS
An $85 billion dollar U.S. lifeline for AIG gave some
respite to battered financial stocks on Wednesday. []
"Everyone feared there would be a big meltdown in the
financial sector that would affect the economy. Now they are
hoping we'll just get through the AIG situation and that may be
lifting the market," said Anthony Nunan, a risk management
executive at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
Federal Reserve policy-makers stopped short of lowering U.S.
interest rates at a meeting on Tuesday, opting for the time
being to soothe rattled financial markets with central bank
lending facilities rather than rate cuts.
Slowing oil demand in the United States and other top
consumers have pushed crude down from record highs over $147
struck in July.
Surging consumption in emerging economies like China sent
oil on a six-year rally, with additional support coming as
investors rushed into commodities earlier this year as a hedge
against inflation and the falling dollar.
Fresh attacks on Nigerian oil installations and supply
disruptions in the United States after Hurricane Ike provided
some support to the market. []
The market will focus later in the session on latest weekly
inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration
that could show some of the impact on U.S. fuel supplies from
Hurricans Gustav and Ike.
Crude oil supplies are forecast to have fallen by 3.8
million barrels last week, gasoline by 3.8 million and
distillates by 1.9 million. []
(Reporting by Jane Merriman and Matthew Robinson in London
and Annika Breidthardt in Singapore, editing by Anthony Barker)
