* Libyan air strike hits near oil terminal
* Libya's NOC chairman says oil could rise above $130
* Libyan oil output falls further amid clashes in east
* EIA data shows Cushing stocks up over 1.1 mln barrels
(Recasts, updates prices, market activity)
NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped to near
2-1/2 year highs on Wednesday after an airstrike near Libya's
oil infrastructure kept the market braced for a prolonged
disruption from the OPEC nation and worried unrest might spread
to other regional producers.
Fresh airstrikes hit Brega, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles)
from a Libyan oil terminal, after embattled leader Muammar
Gaddafi launched a land and air offensive to retake territory
in Libya's east. [] []
The reprisal sparked calls from rebels for foreign air
strikes on African mercenaries they said were helping him stay
in power.
"It looks like an attack fairly close to what is one of
Libya's largest storage and export terminals," said Andy Lebow,
trader at MF Global in New York.
"It's hard to say if the Libyan government is trying to
target oil infrastructure in the east or whether they're just
targeting rebel-held areas, but the market's reacting to this
threat either way."
Gaddafi pledged in a fiery speech before hundreds of
supporters he would crush the revolt against his rule.
[]
By 12:35 p.m. EST (1735 GMT) Brent crude <LCOc1> traded up
$1.57 to $116.99 a barrel, off the session high of $117.81.
Brent hit a 2-1/2 year high near $120 a barrel on Feb. 24 on
the Libyan crisis.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> rose $2.05 to $101.68 a barrel
after hitting $102.37. They rose above $103 on Feb. 24.
Brent's premium against U.S. crude <CL-LCO=R> widened to
more than $16, after closing at $15.79 on Tuesday, when the
Brent/West Texas Intermediate spread hit $17.12, a record.
The head of Libya's oil company, Shokri Ghanem, told
Reuters the nation's problems could push prices over $130 a
barrel if they persist. []
Libya's normal output of 1.6 million barrels per day had
been cut to 700,000-750,000 bpd as most of the industry's
foreign workers had taken flight after the crisis began, he
said. []
Governments in Yemen, Oman, Iran and Iraq have clashed with
protestors seeking reforms as popular unrest has spread in the
region holding more than 60 percent of the world's oil
reserve.
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To watch the Ghanem interview, click:
http://link.reuters.com/jys38r
Middle East unrest graphics http://r.reuters.com/nym77r
Who is in control in Libya http://r.reuters.com/jem28r
Map of control in Libya http://r.reuters.com/fug38r
Countries most reliant on oil http://r.reuters.com/dux28r
Calculator: Oil price impact on GDP
http://r.reuters.com/jux28r
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Crude pared gains in the morning after the release of U.S.
oil inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration showed inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma,
delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange's oil
futures contract hit a record high. []
Brimming stocks at the hub have been partly responsible for
the wide discount of U.S. crude to Brent in recent weeks.
Total U.S. inventories of both crude and refined products
fell, however, the EIA report showed.
(Reporting by Gene Ramos, Robert Gibbons, David Sheppard,
Matthew Robinson in New York; Jessica Donati-Bourne in London;
Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David
Gregorio)
