* Nigerian militants say Shell pipeline attacked
* Shell says pipeline junction point shut
* Oil to average $70 a barrel in 2010 - poll
* U.S. GDP shrinks slightly less in Q1 than first thought
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity)
By David Sheppard
LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than a
dollar to near $70 a barrel on Thursday after Nigeria's main
militant group shut down one of Royal Dutch Shell's <RDSa.L>
pipeline junction points, heightening concerns about supplies
from the region.
U.S. crude futures <CLc1> for August gained $1.19 to $69.86
a barrel by 1545 GMT. London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose $1.40 to
$69.73 a barrel.
In the latest in a string of attacks in Nigeria, Africa's
biggest oil producer, the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND), said it had sabotaged the Billie-Krakama
pipeline in Rivers State, which supplies one of the country's
main export terminals. []
Attacks from MEND have forced foreign oil companies,
including U.S. oil major Chevron <CVX.N> and Italy's Agip
<ENI.MI>, to shut at least 133,000 barrels per day of oil
production in the last month. []
Shell said it had shut down one of its pipeline junction
points on Thursday but declined to say whether any oil
production had been affected.
"Nigeria's MEND rebels have escalated their activities
recently and are certainly a supportive influence (to oil
prices)," Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global in
New York, said in a research note.
Falling demand for oil sent oil prices crashing from record
highs close to $150 a barrel last July towards $30 a barrel at
the turn of the year. Since mid-April, however, prices have
risen sharply on prospects for an economic recovery.
A Reuters poll of industry analysts showed oil prices are
expected to average more than $70 a barrel in 2010, compared
with the latest forecast average of $56.59 for this year.
[]
RISING INVENTORIES
On Wednesday, U.S. government data showed stocks of
gasoline in the world's largest energy consumer rose 3.9
million barrels last week, exceeding analysts' predictions.
Stocks of distillates -- such as diesel and heating oil -- have
risen to 10-year highs due to the recession.
But prices took support from a large drop in stockpiles of
crude oil, which declined by 3.8 million barrels last week.
The U.S. economy shrank slightly less in early 2009 than
previously thought, the government reported on Thursday, though
there was widespread weakness in activity and demand was soft.
Gross domestic product dropped 5.5 percent in the first
quarter, from 6.3 percent in the last quarter of 2008.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of workers
filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last
week by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 627,000 -- a measure of
the strain still faced by hard-pressed consumers.
(Additional reporting by Richard Valdmanis in New York and
Ramthan Hussain in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio)
