* Energy companies restore Gulf of Mexico operations
* EIA revises 2010 global oil demand up
* IEA forecasts energy demand up 1.5 pct/year through 2030
* U.S. oil inventories seen up slightly -Reuters poll
(Updates prices, paragraph 2)
By Matthew Robinson
NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday as
the dollar firmed and energy companies began restoring offshore
operations disrupted by Tropical Storm Ida.
U.S crude for December delivery <CLc1> settled down 38
cents at $79.05 a barrel. London Brent crude <LCOc1> dropped 27
cents to settle at $77.50 a barrel.
"Crude pulled back from its highs because the dollar
bounced a bit and there was no sizzle after the Ida fizzle,"
said Andrew Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.
Oil and natural gas companies operating in the Gulf of
Mexico began returning workers evacuated ahead of Tropical
Storm Ida and restoring shuttered output and ports.
[]
Ida, which churned up to a category 2 hurricane earlier
this week, weakened into a topical depression on Tuesday after
coming ashore in Alabama. []
About 43 percent of U.S. production in the Gulf of Mexico
and 28 percent of the region's natural gas output remained shut
on Tuesday, according to government figures. []
(For a factbox on operations, click [] )
Disruptions in the Gulf, home to about 25 percent of U.S.
domestic oil production and 14 percent of gas output, helped
push crude prices up more than 2 percent on Monday.
U.S. oil markets hit record highs last year near $150 a
barrel, then sank to below $33 a barrel in December as the
global recession hit energy demand.
Traders have looked to wider macro-economic data and
equities markets for signs of an economic recovery that could
bolster crude demand. Pressure on crude prices also came as the
dollar firmed off a 15-month low, as investors pulled money out
of equities and crude and sought safer havens. [] []
A MasterCard SpendingPulse report showed U.S. gasoline
demand rose 2.2 percent last week versus year-ago levels,
although it was down 2.3 percent from the previous week.
[]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration revised its
forecast for 2010 crude oil demand up by 160,000 barrels per
day, but cut its estimate demand slightly for the United
States, the world's largest energy consumer. []
In its annual World Energy Outlook published on Tuesday,
the International Energy Agency forecast a 1.5 percent rise in
primary energy demand globally every year until 2030, and
called for $26 trillion in investment to meet the expected
demand. []
Markets were also awaiting weekly U.S. oil inventory data
from the American Petroleum Institute, due out at 4:30 p.m. EST
(2130 GMT) on Tuesday. The weekly EIA inventory report will be
released a day late on Thursday due to the U.S. Veteran's Day
holiday.
Analysts forecast the data will show a slight rise in U.S.
crude oil inventories last week due to higher imports,
according to analysts polled by Reuters. []
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons in New York;
Christopher Baldwin in London and Felicia Loo in Singapore;
Editing by David Gregorio)
