* China manufacturing contracts in September * Dollar strength helps pressure oil prices * Coming up: NYMEX Oct products contracts expiry Friday NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell on Friday as worries about a slowing global economy highlighted by weak manufacturing data from China kept investors worried that oil demand growth will be curbed. Crude futures extended losses immediately after a report showing that personal income fell 0.1 percent in August, against expectations of a small rise. [ID:nCLAUKE73G] Oil prices had already felt pressure from weak manufacturing data from China, ongoing concerns about Europe's sovereign debt problems and a stronger dollar helped keep oil prices on pace to post steep losses for the quarter and month. China's manufacturing sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September, while factory inflation quickened. The HSBC purchasing managers' index (PMI), which previews business conditions in a range of industries before official output data, was at 49.9 in September, unchanged from August. [ID:nL3E7KU097] The world's second largest oil consumer will keep monetary conditions tight in its effort to rein in stubborn inflation, China's central bank said, adding that containing domestic price pressures remains its priority. [ID:nL3E7KU1LR] Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) has declared force majeure on its distillates deals following a fire that forced the shutdown of its 500,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Singapore refinery, traders said. [ID:nL3E7KU1SH] The refinery is expected to be shut for at least a month as efforts now turn to investigating the cause of a blaze that lasted for more than a day, industry sources said. [ID:nL3E7KU1L4] FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude CLX1 fell $1.37, or 1.7 percent, to $80.77 a barrel by 8:47 a.m. EDT (1247 GMT), trading from $80.65 to $83.23. * The Avaldsnes/Aldous Major South oil and gas discovery in the North Sea could be the third-biggest find made off Norway, after Sweden's Lundin Petroleum (LUPE.ST) more than quadrupled its resource estimates for Avaldsnes. [ID:nL5E7KU0L4] * The shutdown of Shell's Singapore refinery increasingly weighed on Middle East crude, as expectations grew that Saudi Arabia would increase November official selling prices (OSPs) by less as demand recedes. [ID:nL3E7KU1XY] * Shell Pipeline LP said it was beginning the solicitation period for shippers to book firm capacity on its Westward Ho pipeline, a pipeline project which could carry as much as 900,000 bpd of crude oil from St. James, Louisiana, to Houston, Texas. [ID:nS1E78T06H] * Oil exports from Iraq's southern ports have jumped to 1.80 million bpd in September, the highest since January, according to shipping data tracked by Reuters. [ID:nL5E7KU1FC] MARKETS NEWS * European stock index futures fell on course to post their biggest quarterly decline since the months following the collapse of Lehman Brothers three years ago. [MKTS/GLOB] * The euro fell as weak German retail sales added to a grim outlook for the global economy, while markets doubted the firepower of a beefed-up euro zone bailout fund. [FRX] * Gold rose more than 1 percent and was on track for its biggest quarterly gain this year on concerns that the euro zone debt crisis was far from resolved. [GOL/] UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS * The September Chicago Purchasing Managers Index due at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT) on Friday is seen at 55.5, down from 56.5 in August. * The University of Michigan's final U.S. September sentiment index due at 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT) on Friday is seen unchanged at 57.8. * NYMEX RBOB and heating oil October contracts expire on Friday. * U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission positions data due at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT) on Friday. 8:47 LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL CLc1 80.77 -1.37 -1.7% 80.65 83.23 51,982 282,850 CLc2 80.93 -1.41 -1.7% 80.82 83.39 18,034 80,555 LCOc1 102.43 -1.52 -1.5% 102.28 104.91 74,193 220,409 RBc1 2.5970 -0.0222 -0.9% 2.5970 2.6637 653 34,088 RBc2 2.5308 -0.0278 -1.1% 2.5274 2.5919 4,096 56,739 HOc1 2.7893 -0.0288 -1.0% 2.7890 2.837 1,233 26,391 HOc2 2.7949 -0.0317 -1.1% 2.7916 2.8465 5,892 59,023 * NYMEX crude oil for November CLc1 fell $1.37 to $80.77 a barrel by 8:47 a.m. in volume of 51,982 lots. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; editing by Jim Marshall)

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