* Death toll mounts in Iraq after a week of unrest
* Ecuador may cut output by 59,450 bpd on protests -
ministry
* U.S. crude stockpiles may rise for 4th week - poll
By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday,
buoyed by overnight gains in industrial commodities, while
unrest in oil-producing countries Iraq and Ecuador raised
concerns of supply disruption, adding to support.
Brent crude rose 39 cents, or 0.7%, to $58.74 a barrel by
0102 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at
$53.10, up 35 cents, or 0.7%.
"Copper and aluminium traded very strongly in London and
given the weakness we saw in manufacturing data last week, that
suggests that there's some correction going on in industrial
commodities generally," said Michael McCarthy, chief market
strategist at brokerage CMC Markets in Sydney.
"We're at the lower end of the trading range, some of those
moves have taken some traders by surprise. That means the risks
have flipped to the upside at least in the short term."
Investors are treading cautiously before U.S.-China trade
discussions that will take place in Washington on Thursday,
although expectations are low for a comprehensive deal that will
end a trade war between the world's top economies. Protests in Iraq and Ecuador over poor economic conditions
are threatening to disrupt output from the members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The death toll has climbed after a week of unrest in
Baghdad, capital of the second largest OPEC
producer. In Ecuador, protests against austerity measures could reduce
the Andean producer's crude output by 59,450 barrels per day,
the country's energy ministry said late on Monday. Ecuador, one of the smallest OPEC members, is pulling out of
the bloc next year because of fiscal problems. In the United States, crude inventories probably grew for a
fourth straight week while distillates and gasoline stocks
likely fell last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on
Monday. EIA/S
Separately, Russia, the world's second-largest oil producer,
has joined the ranks of swing producers as it could increase
production fairly quickly by 0.3-0.5 million barrels per day, or
0.3-0.5% of global supply, if Saudi Arabia's production problems
were to last longer than expected, Russian Energy Minister
Alexander Novak told Reuters. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has resumed
production after an attack on its facilities on Sept. 14 cut its
output by half.