* Market weighs Canada supply loss vs already bullish bets on oil
* Fresh Cushing build of 1.4 mln bbls adds to bearish sentiment
* New Saudi energy minister role underscores lack of price support (New throughout, updating prices and market activity to U.S. session; changes byline and dateline, previous LONDON)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2 percent or more on Monday after traders took in their stride the impact of wildfires on Canada's oil output and after another inventory build at the U.S. hub for crude futures.
The market rallied 2 percent earlier in the session as investors considered the daily loss of more than 1 million barrels per day in Canadian supply. Almost all of Canada's crude from oil sands is exported to the United States. with speculators already holding the largest number of wagers for a hike in U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 since last summer and near-record high bullish bets on Brent LCOc1 , the scope for further gains was limited without clarity on the extent of damage to oil facilities or supply outages, analysts said.
Oil prices have risen more than 70 percent since hitting 12-year lows of around $27 or lower in the first quarter, supported by falling U.S. production, unexpected supply constraints in Libya and the Americas as well as a weaker dollar.
Adding to Monday's bearish sentiment was market intelligence firm Genscape's report of an inventory build of 1.4 million barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for WTI futures.
"Positioning has been already very stretched in the oil market ... Some must have taken the opportunity to exit, so that's one angle that momentum is slowing down," Barclays (LON:BARC) Capital commodities strategist Miswin Mahesh said.
WTI CLc1 was trading 73 cents, or 1.6 percent, lower at $43.93 a barrel by 10:53 a.m. EDT (1453 GMT). It had rallied as much as $1.28 in Asian trading.
Brent LCOc1 fell $1.10, or 2.4 percent, to $44.27, after hitting $46.48 earlier.
WTI, which usually trades at a discount to Brent CL-LCO1=R , briefly flip to a 17 cent premium earlier in the session.
Prices saw also brief support after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said it held a long-term view of $50-$60 for WTI.
Markets were also watching Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, where a government shake-up over the weekend included the appointment of Khalid al-Falih as head of the new Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. in Saudi Arabia oil leadership only underscore the shift in strategy to one focused on market share over price," Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said. analysts said the wildfire could still be a supportive factor, with officials saying resuming operations would be a challenge and no timeline had been conceived. production is not gone for good, yet when fires are controlled, restarting production will take several more weeks, even without damage," energy analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TAKE A LOOK-Canada getting handle on Alberta wildfire, no restart yet for oil operations