Oil prices march to biggest weekly gain in months as MidEast tensions dominate

* Brent, WTI on track for more than 7% gain this week
* Biggest rise for Brent since Jan, strongest since June for
WTI
* MidEast tension price boost as Saudi coalition attacks
Yemen
* Tropical Storm Imelda hits U.S. energy infrastructure

By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Oil prices were on track for
a more-than-7% jump this week, their biggest in months, as early
trading on Friday saw gains extended on fresh tensions in the
Middle East after a key Saudi Arabian supply hub was knocked out
in an attack last weekend.
Friday's rises came after a Saudi-led coalition launched a
military operation north of Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, as
the United States worked with Middle East and European nations
to build a coalition to deter Iranian threats after the Saudi
attack. Brent crude LCOc1 is on track to rise about 7.7% this
week, the biggest weekly gain since January. The front-month
November contract was at $64.96 a barrel, up 56 cents, by 0212
GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were
up 66 cents to $58.79 a barrel, set to post a 7.1% gain for the
week, the largest weekly rise since June.
"The forward curve remains 'bid' as traders are hedging that
the initial estimates for the duration of repairs (at damaged
Saudi facilities), given the complex nature, could well
underestimate the time required," said Stephen Innes, Asia
Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader.
Saudi Arabia's production dropped by almost half after an
attack on Saturday crippled a major oil processing facility. Its
oil minister has pledged to restore lost production by the end
of this month, and bring capacity back to 12 million barrels per
day by the end of November. The United States and Saudi Arabia blames Iran for the
assault on Saudi oil facilities. Tehran denies any involvement.
In the United States, meanwhile, torrential rain from
Tropical Storm Imelda has forced a major refinery to cut
production and shut a key oil pipeline, terminals and a ship
channel in Texas. Global markets are also keeping an eye on U.S.-China trade
negotiations in Washington, as officials from both sides resumed
face-to-face talks for the first time in nearly two months on
Thursday.