* Oil jumped nearly $6 to over $142 on end of Nigerian cease-fire
* Iran holds second day of missile tests
* Brazilian oil workers threaten strike
(Corrects headline to say price up $6, not $36)
NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped nearly $6 to above $142 a
barrel on Thursday amid threats to production in Nigeria and Brazil and as
additional missile tests by Iran escalated tensions with the West.
Further support came from the weak dollar, which fell on renewed credit
worries after capital concerns dragged down shares in major mortgage finance
sources Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. []
U.S. crude <CLc1> rose $5.99 to $142.04 a barrel by 2:26 p.m. EDT (1826
GMT). London Brent crude <LCOc1> traded up $5.13 at $141.71 a barrel.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant
group in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, said it was abandoning a
cease-fire to protest a British offer to help tackle lawlessness in the region,
raising concern of further disruptions to the OPEC nation's exporters.
"The cease-fire in Nigeria is ending on the 12th, and that's creating some
jitters as far as supply is concerned," said Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst
with optionsXpress.
Rebel attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, the world's No. 8 exporter,
have helped push crude prices to record highs over $145 this month, adding to a
40 percent rise in prices this year.
Concerns that tensions between Iran, another OPEC member, and the West over
Tehran's nuclear program could lead to an oil supply disruption have added to
bullish sentiment.
Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and
the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.
[]
Workers at Brazil's Petrobras <PETR4.SA><PBR.N> threatened to launch a
five-day strike for next week that would affect all 42 Campos basin offshore
platforms, which account for more than 80 percent of Brazil's oil output of
around 1.8 million barrels per day. []
Further support came as the dollar slipped against other currencies.
[] Investors have flocked to oil and other commodities this year as a
hedge against rising inflation and the weak greenback.
High fuel costs have battered consumer economies this year, driving down
demand and causing global fuel protests, after surging growth in demand from
emerging economies like China sparked a 6-year rally in oil prices.
The International Energy Agency on Thursday forecast pressure on oil
markets could ease next year as demand growth slows, cutting the need for crude
from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries . []
"We do see the potential for a build in spare capacity in 2009. That should
help to improve the situation," Lawrence Eagles of the IEA said, adding a
pledge from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to increase output this year could help
provide more of a cushion for the market.
(Reporting by Matthew Robinson, Robert Gibbons, and Gene Ramos in New York,
Jane Merriman and Barbara Lewis in London and Felcia Loo in Singapore; Editing
by Walter Bagley)
