* Fighting between Georgia and Russia supports prices
* Some oil shipments suspended from Caspian producers
* Repair at BTC pipeline may take 1-2 weeks or longer
* Chinese demand dips to 7-month low
(Recasts, updates prices, adds China imports in paragraph 7)
By Alastair Sharp
LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded on Monday as
fighting between Russia and Georgia disrupted exports from the
Caspian region.
U.S. light crude for September delivery <CLc1> was up 45
cents at $115.65 a barrel by 1335 GMT, after dipping below $115
and hitting an intra-day high of $116.90. London Brent crude
<LCOc1> was up 33 cents at $113.66.
Oil had fallen more than $5 on Friday, when it largely
ignored the outbreak of hostilities in the Caucasus region, a
key transit route for oil and gas from the Caspian.
"Even with what is a serious situation in Georgia, with
pipelines threatened perhaps, we haven't had much of a bounce
back," said Simon Wardell, an analyst at Global Insight.
"All it seems to have done is halted the speed of the fall."
Oil has shed about $31, or 21 percent, from its peak of over
$147.27 struck on July 11 on concerns of a slowdown in demand.
Crude imports to China -- the world's second largest
consumer -- unexpectedly fell 7 percent in July to a seven-month
low as refiners balked at soaring crude costs amid lagging
domestic fuel prices. []
Analysts and traders said oil's gains were also tempered by
the rising U.S. dollar, which vaulted to a six-month high
against a basket of currencies on Monday [].
Data due on Tuesday from the International Energy Agency are
also expected to show a decline in demand, traders said.
SUPPLY SLOWED
Georgia's oil ports of Supsa and Batumi, used to export
Azeri crude oil, are operating only partially, while the
Georgian port of Poti is not operating, a shipping agent said on
Monday. []
Kazakhstan also stopped shipments of its crude from
Georgia's Batumi port. Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan also use
crude pipelines for export.
A major oil pipeline exporting Azeri crude passes through
Georgia but was disabled last week on Turkish territory before
the conflict erupted.
A fire in eastern Turkey on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
pipeline halted loadings of Azeri Light crude shipped to the
Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The blaze was extinguished on Monday and repairs may take
one to two weeks or longer, a source at the pipeline consortium
said. []
BP <BP.L> has also cut output by at least 400,000 barrels a
day at the Azeri-Chirag Gunashli oilfields because of the fire.
Russian warships have been dispatched to Georgia's Black Sea
coast, but Russia has denied targeting oil pipelines.
Analysts said investors were refocusing on supply and demand
fundamentals, with OPEC's next move and U.S. inventory levels
eyed in the months ahead.
"(U.S.) inventories are indicating that the market is a
little bit tighter than people think, and that it isn't a
one-way bet," said Michael Lewis, global head of commodities
research at Deutsche Bank.
"The forward curve is quite a good barometer of fundamentals
in the market, obviously barring these geopolitical events," he
said.
(Additional reporting by Santosh Menon in London, Fayen Wong in
Perth; editing by James Jukwey)
