* Oil prices are "beautiful" - Saudi oil minister
* Russia's Rosneft faces export deadlock on YUKOS injunction
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly oil stock data at 1430 GMT
(Recasts, updates prices, adds background, previous dateline
PERTH)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Oil extended gains to above $82
a barrel on Wednesday, rising to within $2 of this year's highl
as Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister described prices as "beautiful"
at OPEC's production meeting in Vienna.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which
pumps roughly one in every three barrels of oil, is expected to
leave output targets in place at its meeting on Wednesday.
U.S. crude for April delivery <CLc1> was up 51 cents at
$82.21 a barrel by 0954 GMT, after settling up $1.90 at $81.70
on Tuesday. London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 55 cents to $81.08.
Since agreeing to curb output to below 25 million barrels
per day (bpd) in December 2008 as the financial crisis
intensified, OPEC has seen prices rally from lows below $40 a
barrel to a peak of $83.95 at the start of this year.
But while prices are now above the group's target of $75 a
barrel, OPEC's Ecuadorian President Germanico Pinto said before
the meeting there is still a long way to go before the group
will feel "at ease" with the market due to fears of a
double-dip recession. []
The oil minister of Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer
and the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves,
appeared more relaxed.
Ali al-Naimi, speaking before the start of the meeting, said
global oil demand will grow by about one million bpd by the
second half of this year and said ministers were in agreement
that there is no need for the group to change its oil output.
"Good demand, reliable supply, beautiful prices -- we are
very happy," Naimi said. []
Naimi has previously said prices around $75 a barrel are
necessary to encourage investment in future oil supplies to cope
with booming demand from emerging economies, and are ultimately
good for both producers and consumers.
"The world is going to need a lot energy, all kinds of
energy," Naimi said on Wednesday.
But rising prices at the pumps have threatened to squeeze
consumers still struggling in the aftermath of the worst
recession for 70 years.
Retail gasoline prices in the United States soared to their
highest level in nearly a year and a half last week and could
soon top $3 a gallon, the U.S. Department of Energy said on
Monday. Unemployment in the world's largest energy consumer is
almost 10 percent. []
ROSNEFT FACES EXPORT DEADLOCK
Oil prices were boosted further by news that Russian state
oil major Rosneft <ROSN.MM> faces an export deadlock after
bankrupt rival YUKOS won U.S. and British court injunctions
making cash payments to Rosneft in the West very complex, market
sources told Reuters on Wednesday. []
Rosneft declined to comment on the injunctions, which trade
and industry sources said were part of a legal battle between
YUKOS and the Russian government, which dissolved YUKOS and sold
most of its assets to Rosneft after putting increasing pressure
on the company between 2003 and 2007.
"It seems this (the injunctions) affects any payment to
Rosneft in U.S. dollars. Under a worst case scenario, there
could be chaos with payments and a complete deadlock of
Rosneft's exports," said a trader with a global major.
Prices took further support from a sharp drop in gasoline
stockpiles in the United States.
Gasoline inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels last week,
according to weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute
(API) on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast an 800,000
barrel drawdown. []
U.S. crude oil stockpiles also rose much less than expected,
posting gains of 403,000 barrels in the week to March 12, versus
analysts' forecasts for a 1.1 million barrel build, the API
said. The more widely watched U.S. government's report is set
for release on Wednesday at 1430 GMT. []
Crude oil prices jumped 2.4 percent on Tuesday in their
highest daily percentage gain in a month -- as the dollar
weakened after the U.S. Federal Reserve renewed its pledge to
keep interest rates near zero for an "extended period". []
A weaker greenback tends to support dollar-priced
commodities as they become cheaper for holders of other
currencies. Loose monetary policy can also spur investment flows
into oil and other commodities as investors seek richer returns.
(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth; editing by Amanda
Cooper)
