* Officials hope Alaska pipeline can restart this week
* Brent premium over U.S. crude widens to $7 -- 23-mth high
* Technicals show US crude rally towards $91 []
* Coming Up: API U.S. weekly oil inventory report; 2130 GMT
(Recasts, updates throughout)
By Christopher Johnson and Jessica Donati
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices climbed above $90
per barrel on Tuesday as a key Alaskan pipeline remained shut,
removing more than half a million barrels per day from U.S.
markets and on strong winter demand for North Sea crude.
The 800-mile (1,280-km) Trans Alaska Pipeline, which carries
oil from Alaska's North Slope, was closed after a leak was
discovered on Saturday, shutting in flows equivalent to 12
percent of U.S. crude output. []
Producers in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay region have cut output by
about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to just 5 percent of normal
levels. Officials said on Monday the Alaskan pipeline should
reopen later this week but no clear time-frame has been given.
U.S. crude for February delivery hit a high of $90.33, up
$1.08, while the front-month contract for North Sea Brent
futures rose to a high of $97.30, up $1.60, stretching its
premium over U.S. crude to more than $7 per barrel, its widest
since February 2009.
By 1420 GMT, February U.S. crude had slipped back a little
to around $90.10, up 85 cents.
Brent has traded above U.S. crude since August last year,
supported by a combination of dwindling North Sea crude supplies
and disruption of oil grades priced off it. Traders said the
disruption to the Alaskan pipeline had put extra pressure on
supplies outside the United States.
A bypass line at the affected area would allow the duct's
operator, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, to restart the system.
Past shutdowns have generally been short-lived, and tanker
shipments from Alaska's Valdez port have not yet been hit.
"There is the possibility the pipeline will resume
operations pretty soon, in fact 3-5 days from now, but if it
doesn't, it will have a strong impact on the market," said
Christophe Barret, global oil analyst at Credit Agricole.
U.S. INVENTORIES
"If the pipeline doesn't restart, the need to find other
sources will impact crude oil prices in the Middle East."
Barret said the wide Brent/U.S. crude oil futures spread was
due to a combination of high U.S. oil stocks, maintenance work
in the North Sea and some speculative trading in Brent. News of
the problems with the Alaskan pipeline had also helped.
U.S. crude oil inventories probably rose by 400,000 barrels
last week as imports rebounded, in what would be the first gain
in six weeks, according to a preliminary Reuters poll before the
release of weekly inventory reports. []
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will publish
inventory statistics on Tuesday at 2130 GMT, while the U.S.
Energy Information Administration will follow with government
figures on Wednesday at 1530 GMT.
In the previous five weeks, crude inventories had tumbled
more than 24 million barrels, the biggest five-week drop since
June 2008, as refiners, in their usual year-end practice, used
more of their stored supplies and tried to hold down imports to
lower their taxes for 2010. []
Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, may
have increased 1.3 million barrels for their third straight
weekly gain, while gasoline stocks probably rose 2.8 million
barrels, the survey showed.
Oil demand has picked up strongly over the last year as
economic growth has rebounded after the global downturn.
U.S. crude prices reached a 27-month high of $92.58 last
week on expectations that a sustained economic recovery would
boost energy demand from both emerging markets and
industrialised nations.
"The market is supported by robust economic growth and
capital inflows from investors," said Eugen Weinberg, head of
commodities research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
China's crude oil imports rose 17.5 percent to a record 4.79
million bpd in 2010 from a year ago, official data showed on
Monday, but the growth may slow this year as fewer new
refineries come on stream. []
(Additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore;
editing by Keiron Henderson)
