AMPLE SUPPLIES LIMIT U.S. STRIKE'S OIL PRICE IMPACT Ample supplies of OPEC crude weighing on world markets helped limit and then reverse oil price gains that followed the U.S. Strike on an Iranian oil platform in the Gulf earlier on Monday, analysts said. December loading rose to 19.65 dlrs, up 45 cents before falling to around 19.05/15 later, unchanged from last Friday. "Fundamentals are awful," said Philip Lambert, analyst with stockbrokers Kleinwort Grieveson, adding that total OPEC production in the first week of October could be above 18.5 mln bpd, little changed from September levels. Peter Nicol, analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank, said OPEC production could be about 18.5-19.0 mln in October. Reuter and International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates put OPEC September production at 18.5 mln bpd. The U.S. Attack was in retaliation of last Friday's hit of a Kuwaiti oil products tanker flying the U.S. Flag, the Sea Isle City. It was struck by a missile, believed to be Iranian, in Kuwaiti waters, and was the first hit on a U.S. Flag commercial vessel in the seven year Iran/Iraq war. The U.S. Owned Liberian flag tanker Sungari was hit in the area on Thursday, also believed struck by an Iranian missile. Refiners were not significant purchasers of physical oil on Monday as a result increased Gulf tension following the U.S. Attack, analysts said. They said a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around eight mln bpd passes, isnlikely because it is not in the interests of the U.S. Or Iran, they said. Any threat to oil supplies would stem from an increase in the number of tanker attacks as part of a widening of Gulf hostilities, analysts said. But they saw the U.S. Strike as a limited reply to Iranian missile attacks, with some describing it as responsible. Geoffrey Pyne, analyst at stockbrokers Phillips and Drew, said he was impressed by the sensible U.S. Response. "The U.S. Has thought carefully about what would correspond to Iranian agression. They have proved to the Iranians that any further action will be met with a like-for-like response. Today's action by the U.S. Was not escalatory," Pyne said. Kleinwort Grieveson's Lambert said the U.S. Strike was "a responsible retaliation," with the U.S. Apparently indicating to Iran that it could increase the severity of its attacksf Iran chose to raise the level of conflict. Chase Manhattan's Nicol took a different view, however. He said he was unable to see what the U.S. Had achieved as Arab states such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, whose interests the U.S. Is supposedly defending, will feel less secure as a result of the U.S. Attack and fear some sort of Iranian retaliation. The initial upward market move this morning reflected a strong speculative reaction to rumours of a U.S. Attack which was thought at one stage to have been against Iranian missile launchers on the Faw Peninsula, close to Kuwait, analysts said. The later downtrend followed confirmation of a U.S. Navy attack on an Iranian oil platform by the U.S. Defence Secretary Caspar Weinburger. Market operators were able to evaluate the situation in the Gulf on the basis of confirmed fact, and finding it less serious than first thought, took profits, taking prices lower, analysts and traders said.