* Oil settles up 4 percent over $141 on Iran missile tests
* Nigerian rebels end cease-fire
* Brazilian oil workers threaten strike
(Recasts, adds details on late Iran rumor)
NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped 4 percent
to above $141 a barrel on Thursday amid threats to production
in Nigeria and Brazil and an additional missile test by Iran
that 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> settled up $5.60 at $141.65 a barrel, off
a session high of $142.10 a barrel. London Brent crude <LCOc1>
settled $5.45 higher at $142.03 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 nearly 50 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. []
But a U.S. official said there was no information to
confirm rumors of a third Iran missile test late on Thursday as
prices surged near the settlement. [] There was no
mention of a third test on Iranian satellite channels Press TV
or Al Alam on their broadcast on Thursday evening.
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 David Gregorio)
