* Saudi sees no OPEC change, warns on stocks - paper
* N.Korea set to fire short-range missile-Yonhap
* Nigeria pipeline attack shuts in 100,000 bpd
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil fell below $61 a barrel on
Tuesday, ahead of an OPEC meeting later this week expected to
keep output unchanged, while growing fears of North Korea
firing another short-range missile encouraged some
profit-taking.
U.S. oil prices for July delivery <CLc1> fell 70 cents from
Friday's close to stand at $60.97 a barrel by 0247 GMT. London
Brent crude fell 16 cents to $60.05.
There was no settlement price as NYMEX was closed for the
Memorial Day holiday in the United States.
"Oil markets appear to be anticipating that OPEC will leave
oil production targets unchanged at the meeting on May 28,"
said David Moore, a commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia.
OPEC is not expected to change production policy this week,
the al-Hayat newspaper quoted Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi
as saying on Tuesday, adding that the world stocks were still
too high to consider lifting output. []
The comments from Naimi, OPEC's most influential minister,
echoed those made by several other members such as Algeria and
Kuwait and signalled that the cartel would want to see world
stocks -- now swollen at around 61-62 days worth of global
consumption -- return to their historic range before
considering loosening the taps.
The producer group, which has already pledged to curb
output by 4.2 million barrels per day since September, will
meet in Vienna on Thursday to review its supply policy.
Rising geopolitical tensions sparked by North Korea's
nuclear test on Monday fanned investor worries, prompting
investors to take profit after last week's almost 10 percent
gain in prices.
North Korea is ready to fire another short-range missile
off its west coast either on Tuesday or Wednesday, Yonhap news
agency quoted a South Korean official as saying.
[]
"Traders in the oil community generally won't give too much
weight to the North Korea issue. This is probably a knee-jerk
reaction and is giving a profit-taking opportunity after the
strong rise in prices last week," said Gerard Rigby, an analyst
at Fuel First Consulting in Sydney.
Oil prices have bounced back strongly from a four-year low
of around $32 a barrel in December as rallying equity markets
sparked speculation that government stimulus measures will
hasten the speed of a global economic recovery.
Prices rallied around 9.5 percent last week and are now
hovering near a six-month high, thanks to a spate of U.S.
refinery problems and unrest in major oil exporter Nigeria.
Traders will also be training their eyes on U.S. economic
data, including consumer confidence and home price index, due
later to gauge the health of the world's largest economy.
Analysts said violence in Nigeria could also push up prices
if attacks by militants further disrupted oil supplies.
Nigerian militants launched their first major strike
against the oil industry late on Sunday, bombing a Chevron
pipeline and shutting 100,000 bpd of output. []
A bright spot for oil demand came from a report from
China's National Energy Bureau, which said crude oil
consumption from the world's No.3 energy user was likely to
increase 3.9 percent in 2009 and net imports of crude will grow
6.2 percent, []
(Editing by Ben Tan)
