UPDATE 7-Oil rises slightly on consumer confidence, Saudi

                                
 * Saudi sees slight "uptick" in demand, $75/bbl in 2H
                                
 * U.S. consumer confidence rises
                                
 * OPEC expected to maintain output
                                
 * Nigeria pipeline attack shuts in 100,000 bpd
(Updates prices, paragraph 4)
                                
 By Matthew Robinson
                                
 NEW YORK, May 26 (Reuters) - Oil rose slightly on Tuesday,
lifted by U.S. consumer confidence data and comments from OPEC
kingpin Saudi Arabia that oil demand has begun to pick up.
                                
 Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told journalists
ahead of Thursday's OPEC meeting he hoped oil prices would hit
$75 a barrel between the third and fourth quarters of this
year, well above lows in December below $33 a barrel.
[ID:nVAT000404]
                                
 OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna are expected to leave
output levels unchanged on expectations prices will continue to
rise despite swollen stockpiles and slumping demand.
[ID:nLQ937932]
                                
 U.S. crude oil for July delivery <CLc1> rose 5 cents to
$61.72 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. EDT (1732 GMT). There was no floor
trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday due to
the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. London Brent crude <LCOc1>
traded up 49 cents to $60.70 a barrel.
                                
 "The stock market rose on higher consumer confidence data,
pushing oil futures up," said Andy Lebow, broker for MF Global
in New York.
                                
 "A comment from the Saudi Arabian oil minister about prices
rising to $75 a barrel later this year is also supportive."
                                
 U.S. consumer confidence rose in May to its highest level
in eight months, jumping to 54.9 in May from a revised 40.8 in
April, the Conference Board said. [ID:nN26486468]
                                
 The data helped lift U.S. stocks higher, with the Nasdaq
<.IXIC> up 3 percent. [ID:nN26494773]
                                
 The economic crisis has hit crude demand, sending oil
prices off record highs near $150 a barrel struck in July,
prompting OPEC to agree a series of cuts since September aimed
at reducing output by 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
                                
(For more on OPEC please double click on [ID:nLM346491])
                                
 Saudi minister Naimi said the cartel was likely to stay the
course when it meets on Thursday. But he could not say if there
was consensus between all members of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
                                
 Naimi added he hoped oil demand would recover in the second
half of 2008, noting there was already a slight "uptick" in
fuel consumption. [ID:nLQ335595]
                                
 A Reuters poll of analysts forecast oil prices will average
$52.47 a barrel this year, up from $50.85 in April.
[ID:nLM932709]
                                
 Militant action in OPEC producer Nigeria has also supported
prices. Nigerian militants launched a major strike against the
oil industry late on Sunday, bombing a Chevron Corp <CVX.N>
pipeline and shutting 100,000 bpd of output. [ID:nLP693007]
                                
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson, Robert Gibbons, Gene Ramos
in New York; Jane Merriman in London; Fayen Wong in Perth;
Editing by David Gregorio)