* Governments around world act to shore up banks
* Saudi cuts November oil shipments to Europe
* Goldman Sachs slashes oil forecast, turns near-term bear
(Updates throughout, changes dateline from LONDON)
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than $3
to $81 a barrel on Monday as global markets rallied after
governments launched bailout schemes to shore up banks.
Britain, Germany, France, Italy and other European
governments all announced rescue packages to stave off the
global financial crisis, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson said Washington was developing plans to buy equity in
financial institutions. []
U.S crude <CLc1> gained $3.60 to $81.30 a barrel by 12:33
p.m. EDT (1633 GMT), after concerns about the effect of the
financial crisis on demand and a flight of investors into safer
havens sent prices to the lowest level since Sept. 10, 2007, on
Friday.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose $2.70 to $76.79 barrel.
Major Wall Street stock indexes traded up more than 5
percent in early activity, while the MSCI world equity index
<.MIWD00000PUS> gained 5 percent.
"I think the bank bailout packages may have stabilized
financial markets and we're just following them higher," said
Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc.
"The dollar is weaker against the euro as well, and the
Saudis cut November oil shipments to Europe."
Investors rushed into oil and other commodities this year
as a hedge against the weak dollar and inflation, before
slowing fuel demand in the United States and other developed
economies knocked crude from record highs above $147 in July.
The drop in crude prices has prompted some members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to call for a
reduction in production levels when the cartel holds an
emergency meeting on Nov. 18.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia -- OPEC's most influential member
-- cut November supplies to one major European refiner,
according to a trade source, but told major Asian refiners
shipments would not be changed. []
Goldman Sachs, a long-standing commodity bull, became a
near-term bear on Monday, after conceding that global financial
turmoil would take a far bigger toll on demand and that oil
prices could hit $50, if the crisis deepened. []
"We have underestimated the depth and duration of the
global financial crisis and its implications on economic growth
and commodity demand," Goldman's commodity markets research
team said.
The bank cut its year-end U.S. crude oil target to $70 a
barrel, down from a previous forecast of $115 a barrel, and
slashed its average 2009 forecast by a third to $86 a barrel.
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson; Jane Merriman in London; Fayen
Wong in Perth; Editing by Walter Bagley)
