Oil soars 7 percent on bets of U.S. shale output falling, equity rally

By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil markets jumped as much as 7 percent on Monday as speculation about falling U.S. shale output and a rally in equities fed the notion that crude prices may be bottoming after their 20-month collapse. The markets began the week with a rebound in Asian trade, reacting to Friday's U.S. rig count data, which showed the number of oil drilling rigs in operation falling to a December 2009 low after nine straight weeks of cuts. Higher equity prices on Wall Stree