(Updates number of refineries shut, back to normal and operating at reduced rates)

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Twelve oil refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast with a total production capacity of 2.428 million barrels per day remained shut in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, but four refineries resumed normal operations, the Energy Department said on Thursday.

The total capacity offline is down from a peak of 14 refineries representing 2.716 million bpd capacity.

Another six refineries with a combined capacity of 1.901 million bpd were operating at reduced rates, the department said, based on information from oil companies and various trade press sources.

Four refineries with a capacity of almost 1.2 million bpd that had reduced runs were now back to normal, the department said.

Marathon Oil Corp <MRO.N> has asked the Energy Department for oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to supply two of its refineries in Illinois and Kentucky. Marathon declined to make public how much oil it was seeking from the taxpayer-owned stockpile.

Meanwhile, Citgo Petroleum Corp withdrew its request for 250,000 barrels of oil from reserve after the shipping channel was reopened to its refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The oil stockpile's site in Bayou Choctaw, Louisiana, remained shut because the power is out.

Many of the refineries were offline because of a lack of electric power, making it difficult for pipelines to supply oil to the facilities.

"Even with no damage, and power fully restored, it takes time to bring a refinery back up -- more than a week in many cases," the department's Energy Information Administration said on Thursday in its weekly review of the oil market.

As of midday Thursday, there were still 897,000 customers in Louisiana without power.

The damage to Entergy Corp's <ETR.N> electrical system was the most extensive to have ever occurred in the Baton Rouge area, the department said.

The department said for those areas of Louisiana where the damage was the most severe, or where access is the most difficult, "it could be several weeks before necessary repairs are completed and customers are restored."

The EIA said refineries also won't ramp up output until more offshore oil production comes back online and shut oil import terminals reopen.

The agency said local gasoline prices could temporarily increase "until the refining and delivery systems are fully operational."

The department's latest hurricane update can be found at http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/named_event.aspx?ID=18.

The Reuters FACTBOX on how the oil industry is recovering from Gustav is at [ID:nN043288] (Editing by Jim Marshall)

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