* Oil rises $2 a barrel, closes in on all-time high
* Potential supply disruption from Nigeria and Brazil
* Iran tests more missiles in the Gulf
(Updates prices, previous SINGAPORE)
LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - Oil rose more than $2 to around
$144 a barrel on Friday, closing in on its record high, spurred
by growing worries of threats to supplies from Iran and Nigeria
and fears of disruptions to Brazilian oil output.
U.S. crude <CLc1> rose $2.30 to $143.95 a barrel by 0919
GMT, after jumping $5.60 or 4 percent a barrel on Thursday. It
hit a record high of $145.85 last week.
London Brent crude was up $2.07 at $144.10 a barrel.
"There are continuing concerns over oil supplies over the
short term," said Gerard Burg of National Australia Bank in
Melbourne.
Oil, which had been on the retreat for much of early part of
the week, reversed course on Thursday as fears of supply
disruptions from potential hot-spots, OPEC members Iran and
Nigeria, resurfaced.
A spate of missile tests by Iran, the world's fourth-largest
oil exporter, in the last two days against a backdrop of rising
tensions with Israel and the United States has left the oil
markets worried.
Iran has threatened to strike back at Tel Aviv as well as
U.S. interests in and a key oil shipping route if it is attacked
over its nuclear programme, which Israel and the West fears is
aimed at making nuclear weapons.
The United States reminded Tehran it was ready to defend its
allies.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the
main militant group in Nigeria's oil-producing region, said it
was abandoning a ceasefire to protest against a British offer to
help tackle lawlessness in the region.
Rebel attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, the world's
eighth biggest exporter, have also been partly responsible for
the nearly 50 percent rise in prices this year.
Workers at Brazil's Petrobras <PETR4.SA><PBR.N> threatened
to launch a five-day strike next week that would affect all 42
Campos basin offshore platforms, which account for more than 80
percent of daily oil output of around 1.8 million barrels.
Oil has also risen due to persistent weakness in the U.S.
dollar. Investors have flocked to oil and other commodities this
year as a hedge against rising inflation and the weak dollar.
The dollar consolidated near one week lows against a basket
of major currencies on Friday, its decline halted by a recovery
in U.S. and European equity markets. []
Oil has continued rising despite efforts by top exporter
Saudi Arabia to raise production to its highest rate in three
decades in an effort to tame oil prices.
Qatar Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters on
Friday that he saw no demand for the additional crude that Saudi
Arabia has pledged to pump.
(Additional reporting by Felicia Loo in Singapore; Editing
by William Hardy)
