* Ample fuel supply seen in United States
* Nigerian rebels attack three Shell oil sites
* Iran's opposition leader urges more protests
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, June 22 (Reuters) - Oil fell towards $69 a barrel on
Monday, extending the previous session's drop of more than 2
percent, as bearish sentiment over gasoline markets in the
United States continued to dominate investors' concerns.
Oil fell 2.5 percent on Friday, dragged lower by a sell-off
in the gasoline market as dealers bet there would ample fuel
supply in the United States to meet demand from summer
vacationers.
U.S. crude for July delivery <CLc1> fell 39 cents to $69.16
by 0157 GMT. The contract fell $1.82 to settle at $69.55 a
barrel on Friday, registering a weekly loss of more than 3
percent.
London Brent crude fell 32 cents to $68.87.
"In May, the market was pricing in that there would be a
gasoline shortage but the latest data is obviously showing that
it is not happening," said Ben Westmore, a commodities analyst
at the National Australia Bank.
"There are also high stockpiles of crude oil, so the
general market sentiment is that the balance of demand and
supply in the market hasn't improved too much."
U.S. gasoline supplies rose unexpectedly last week as
refiners boosted output to prepare for an expected seasonal
uptick in demand, according to government data issued
Wednesday.
Still, analysts said ongoing attacks of oil facilities in
Nigeria by militant groups may help lift prices in the short
term.
Nigeria's main militant group said on Sunday it had
attacked three oil installations belonging to Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> in the Niger Delta, widening a month-old offensive
against Africa's biggest energy industry. []
Rebels in Nigeria, the world's seventh-largest oil
exporter, have been carrying out attacks on the oil industry
for years in what they claim is a struggle aimed at spreading
the region's energy wealth to the poor local communities.
In the Middle East, Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein
Mousavi urged supporters to continue protests over the
re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a
direct challenge to the Islamic Republic's leadership.
[]
But some analysts say the political turmoil in Iran so far
is a non-event for the oil markets, due to high levels of crude
spare capacity and inventories.
"In a hypothetical worst-case scenario, even if there is
violent regime change in Iran, we would not at all jump to the
conclusion that crude production and exports would be shut
down," Michael Wittner, global head of oil research of Societe
Generale, said in a research note.
"Any new government would know that the Iranian economy is
highly dependent on revenues from crude exports. In our view,
they would almost certainly aim to keep those revenues coming
in."
Crude oil speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange
slashed their net long positions nearly in half in the week to
June 16, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
showed on Friday. []
(Editing by Ben Tan)
