(Repeats to additional subscribers)
* 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
(Releads, updates prices, analyst comments)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil fell below $61 a barrel on
Tuesday, weighed down by a recovery in the U.S. dollar and
expectations that an OPEC meeting later this week would keep
the cartel's output unchanged.
Analysts said geopolitical tensions sparked by North
Korea's firing another short-range missile also encouraged some
profit-taking.
U.S. oil prices for July delivery <CLc1> fell 99 cents from
Friday's close to stand at $60.68 a barrel by 0650 GMT. London
Brent crude fell 51 cents to $59.70.
There was no settlement price as NYMEX was closed for the
Memorial Day holiday in the United States.
"Oil prices are down because of the pullback in the euro
versus the U.S. dollar," said Michelle Kwek, an analyst at
Informa Global Markets in Singapore.
The dollar rose from a five-month low against a basket of
currencies on Tuesday as investors booked profits on a spike in
the euro and other higher-yielding currencies. []
A stronger dollar put downward pressure on oil prices as it
makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Strong comments from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia that the
group was likely to leave its output targets unchanged also
weighed on oil prices.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (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.
Fresh provocations by North Korea, which fired more missles
on Tuesday after a nuclear test a day earlier, added to market
tensions and caused Asian shares to fall.
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"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.
Traders will also be training their eyes on U.S. economic
data, including consumer confidence and the 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 Clarence Fernandez)
