UPDATE 10-Oil ends up on Earl threat, platform explosion

* EIA says hurricane threatens East Coast refineries

* Blast on Mariner Energy <ME.N> platform off Louisiana

* Equities gain on data, help lift crude futures

* Coming Up: US Aug nonfarm payroll data on Friday (Recasts, updates prices, market activity to settlement; adds latest NHC advisory and Brent crude closing price)

By Gene Ramos

NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose for a second day on Thursday as Hurricane Earl threatened U.S. East Coast refineries and an explosion hit an offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

News of the fire at the Mariner Energy Inc <ME.N> facility off the coast of Louisiana sparked buying before midday. For full story see [ID:nN02220827]

"The market was generally heading lower before the Mariner Platform news broke -- at the point we did see a shift in the market as it created a degree of uncertainty, though prices do remain volatile," said Stephen Schork of The Schork Report daily trading note in Pennsylvania.

Oil got further support from concerns about Hurricane Earl, which was threatening 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity along the East Coast. [ID:nWNA8910]

U.S. crude <CLc1> settled up $1.11 at $75.02 a barrel. ICE Brent <LCOc1> closed up 58 cents at $76.93, with its premium to U.S. crude remaining elevated because of bloated U.S. inventories. [CL-LCO1=R]

Worries about refineries boosted U.S. gasoline futures, which led energy percentage gains on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline for October delivery <RBV0> closed up 3.25 cents at $1.9216 a gallon.

Canadian energy companies were also preparing for the storm, with EnCana Corp suspending workers on a drilling rig in Nova Scotia.

The latest advisory from National Hurricane Center showed Hurricane Earl in the western Atlantic about 245 miles south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, weakened to a Category Three storm, as winds slipped to 125 miles per hour. They were 145 mph earlier Thursday. [ID:nN02218351]

Earl was due to pass near the Outer Banks Thursday night before turning gradually toward the north-northeast to sweep up the East Coast on Friday. (Graphic; http://link.reuters.com/san78n )

Earlier, crude futures bounced back from session lows after data on jobless benefit claims and home sales lifted Wall Street. [ID:nN02226684]

Traders remained cautious about the economy ahead of Friday's key nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data.

"These are further signs the economy is not slipping into a recession, albeit growth still looks quite slow," Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International in New York.

In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar was down 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies. <.DXY>

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Reuters Insider video on market reacting to fire

http://link.reuters.com/ces98n

Factbox on U.S. energy disasters [ID:nN02230465]

Graphic on Mariner Energy platform fire:

http://link.reuters.com/dew98n

Latest news on hurricanes:

http://www.reuters.com/subjects/hurricanes

Link to National Hurricane Center:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Link to weather models:

http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/

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(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons, David Sheppard, Eileen Moustakis in New York; Erwin Seba and Bruce Nichols in Houston; Alex Lawler and Joe Brock in London; and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by John Picinich and Sofina Mirza-Reid)