Oil eases from peaks after BP shuts Alaskan field

SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. oil eased and Brent backed away from a new record-high on Tuesday as traders took profits from a 3 percent surge after BP shut down Alaska's Prudhoe Bay oilfield, the biggest in the United States, possibly for months.

London Brent crude fell 32 cents to .98 a barrel, still within sight of Monday's all-time high of .64 a barrel.

U.S. light, sweet crude oil was down 18 cents at .80 a barrel by 0332 GMT. It jumped 3 percent to .98 a barrel on Monday, nearing its record of .40 hit in July.

BP, which shut down its 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) Prudhoe Bay oilfield on Sunday after discovering a corroded pipeline, said on Monday it would replace all transit lines on the field, meaning it may be out of service for months.

''Yesterday we got over SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. oil eased and Brent backed away from a new record-high on Tuesday as traders took profits from a 3 percent surge after BP shut down Alaska's Prudhoe Bay oilfield, the biggest in the United States, possibly for months.

London Brent crude fell 32 cents to $77.98 a barrel, still within sight of Monday's all-time high of $78.64 a barrel.

U.S. light, sweet crude oil was down 18 cents at $76.80 a barrel by 0332 GMT. It jumped 3 percent to $76.98 a barrel on Monday, nearing its record of $78.40 hit in July.

BP, which shut down its 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) Prudhoe Bay oilfield on Sunday after discovering a corroded pipeline, said on Monday it would replace all transit lines on the field, meaning it may be out of service for months.

''Yesterday we got over $2 gains and the market could be going down (now) because of profit taking... after the sharp increase,'' said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

The unexpected closure may force the United States, in the midst of its peak gasoline demand season, to release its emergency reserves. The U.S. Energy Department said it would consider loaning oil to refiners as it did last year when hurricanes shut a quarter of U.S. crude and fuel output.

But the International Energy Agency (IEA), adviser to the world's industrialised nations, ruled out using its reserves, Executive Director Claude Mandil told Reuters. The IEA co-ordinated the release of global emergency stocks after Hurricane Katrina, only the second such release in its history.

Oil has rallied 25 percent this year with a quarter of Nigeria's output shut by militants, saboteurs playing havoc with Iraq's exports and consumers afraid Iran could halt oil flows to punish opponents of its nuclear programme, while efforts to end the war between Israel and Hizbollah threatened to stall.

With the Atlantic storm season still a menace for several more months and the duration of the Alaskan outage still in doubt, some analysts saw further gains ahead.

BNP Paribas maintained its forecast for Brent crude of $77 a barrel this quarter, and implicitly expecting prices to move above $80 at some point during the quarter.

Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said on Sunday Iran would expand the number of atomic centrifuges it was running and warned the U.N. Security Council not to impose sanctions on the world's fourth-biggest exporter of crude oil, which could trigger a harsh response.

Separately, the Security Council was set to hear from a delegation of Arab nations pressing for changes in a draft resolution meant to end the four-week Middle East conflict to include the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Diplomats said a vote on the resolution was likely to be delayed until Wednesday, while Israel said it might expand its ground offensive.

REUTERS BDP BS1107 gains and the market could be going down (now) because of profit taking... after the sharp increase,'' said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

The unexpected closure may force the United States, in the midst of its peak gasoline demand season, to release its emergency reserves. The U.S. Energy Department said it would consider loaning oil to refiners as it did last year when hurricanes shut a quarter of U.S. crude and fuel output.

But the International Energy Agency (IEA), adviser to the world's industrialised nations, ruled out using its reserves, Executive Director Claude Mandil told Reuters. The IEA co-ordinated the release of global emergency stocks after Hurricane Katrina, only the second such release in its history.

Oil has rallied 25 percent this year with a quarter of Nigeria's output shut by militants, saboteurs playing havoc with Iraq's exports and consumers afraid Iran could halt oil flows to punish opponents of its nuclear programme, while efforts to end the war between Israel and Hizbollah threatened to stall.

With the Atlantic storm season still a menace for several more months and the duration of the Alaskan outage still in doubt, some analysts saw further gains ahead.

BNP Paribas maintained its forecast for Brent crude of a barrel this quarter, and implicitly expecting prices to move above at some point during the quarter.

Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said on Sunday Iran would expand the number of atomic centrifuges it was running and warned the U.N. Security Council not to impose sanctions on the world's fourth-biggest exporter of crude oil, which could trigger a harsh response.

Separately, the Security Council was set to hear from a delegation of Arab nations pressing for changes in a draft resolution meant to end the four-week Middle East conflict to include the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Diplomats said a vote on the resolution was likely to be delayed until Wednesday, while Israel said it might expand its ground offensive.

REUTERS BDP BS1107