* Canadian wildfire, falling U.S. output tighten oil markets
* Fort McMurray fire results in 690,000 bpd oil production
cut
* But stronger dollar this week weighs on demand
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on
Friday after a run up on supply disruptions, especially in the
Americas, where wildfires continue to rage near Canada's huge
oil sand fields, tightening a market suffering global
oversupply.
The disruptions helped offset the impact of a stronger
dollar this week .DXY , which potentially reduces demand for
crude as it makes dollar-traded imports more expensive for
countries using other currencies.
International benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were
trading at $44.95 per barrel at 0203 GMT, 6 cents below their
last settlement but flat with its first close this week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were
at $44.17, down 15 cents but over 1 percent above this week's
first close.
"Supply disruptions and closures helped push crude oil
prices higher, despite the stronger U.S.-dollar," ANZ bank said
on Friday.
A massive fire around the Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray
has forced the evacuation of all its residents and the closure
of 690,000 barrels per day (bpd) worth of production out of
Canada's total oil sands output of 2.2 million bpd.
Adding to the production outage in Canada is an ongoing
decline in U.S. output.
"While the wildfire in the oil-sands regions of Canada is
still wreaking havoc with many producers, U.S. oil output
continues to feel the impact of low prices," ANZ said.
Data by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
shows that U.S. crude oil output has fallen by 410,000 bpd this
year, and by 800,000 bpd since mid-2015, as many producers
succumb to a rout that saw prices tumble 70 percent between
mid-2014 and early-2016.
Analysts said that the hits to North American output,
combined with disruptions in Latin America, were contributing to
a fast erosion of global oversupply that peaked as high as 2
million barrels bpd last year.
"Unplanned oil supply disruptions have been a key element so
far this year that have contributed to a tighter oil market than
was otherwise expected," said analyst Guy Baber of Simmons & Co.