* Oil falls as low as $63.40, lowest since May 28
* Societe Generale says oil expected to average $60 in July
* Nigerian militants say attacked Chevron, Shell oil sites
(Updates prices)
By Alex Lawler
LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Oil fell to around $64 a barrel
on Monday and touched a five-week low, pressured by doubts over
the prospects for a recovery in the global economy and energy
demand.
The U.S. jobless rate reached a 26-year high and Euro zone
unemployment is at the highest in a decade, reports showed last
week. Oil fell even after militants attacked oil installations
in major African exporter Nigeria. []
"There's a general retreat caused by lack of risk appetite,"
said Mike Wittner, oil analyst at Societe Generale. "For a
couple of months, we perhaps got a bit too optimistic and
several markets got ahead of themselves."
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell $2.88 from Thursday's close to $63.85
a barrel by 1214 GMT. It traded as low as $63.40, the lowest
intraday price since May 28. Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.85 from
Friday's close to $63.76.
European stocks <.EU> weakened on Monday following on from
losses in Asia. U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening on
Wall Street. The dollar <.DXY> rose against a basket of other
major currencies.
"It's a definite break to the downside, probably sparked by
the poor economic data and stalling stock markets," said
Christopher Bellew, a broker at Bache Commodities in London.
"It's completely broken through its support at around
$68.00-$68.50 and technically and probably fundamentally,
heading lower now," he added, referring to Brent crude.
NYMEX floor trading was closed on Friday because of the U.S.
Independence Day holiday and, although oil traded
electronically, the exchange did not issue an official closing
price.
Investors will focus later this week on a meeting of the
Group of Eight industrial nations on July 8-10.
The G8 should not presume a global economic recovery is
near, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a letter to
G8 host Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi obtained by
Reuters on Monday. []
In a research note, Societe Generale said the correction in
oil prices, which surged 42 percent in the last quarter, was
long anticipated. It predicted oil prices would continue falling
and average around $60 a barrel in July.
Even after its latest losses, oil has still almost doubled
from a low of $32.40 reached in December. Attacks on oil
installations in Nigeria, traditionally Africa's top oil
producer, could limit losses.
Chevron <CVX.N>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and Italian
energy firm Agip <ENI.MI> have cut oil output by around 273,000
barrels per day in the last six weeks following the latest
campaign of militant violence.
(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Perth; Editing by
Anthony Barker)
