* Oil falls as Nigerian oil workers strike averted
* White House does not see Saudi Arabia supply boost
* Venezuela will not attend June 22 Saudi meet
SINGAPORE, June 19 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Thursday as
supply concerns in Nigeria eased after the oil ministry
prevented a potentially crippling strike by workers at Chevron.
But falling U.S. oil stocks and comments from the White
House that Saudi Arabia was unlikely to raise output in the
near term would support prices, which have climbed 40 percent
this year.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 53 cents to $136.15 a barrel by 0202
GMT, after settling up $2.67 at $136.68 a day ago on the
Nigerian worries. London Brent crude <LCOc1> slid 49 cents to
$135.95.
Nigeria's oil ministry intervened at the eleventh hour on
Wednesday to avert a strike at Chevron <CVX.N>, saying it had
persuaded the firm to reduce its expatriate workforce.
A senior oil workers' union had accused Chevron of having
too many foreign staff, and a strike could have slashed output
from the world's eighth-biggest oil producer.
But some support came after comments from the White House,
which said it was not expecting Saudi Arabia to announce an
output hike when producers and consumers meet in the kingdom on
June 22 to address soaring oil prices. []
"I think people are still in a wait-and-see situation for
crude. We are in a ranged market today," said Marc Lansonneur,
Societe Generale's head of commodities derivatives in Asia,
adding prices were bound within the $132-$140 range.
A surge in speculative buying by investors hedging against
inflation and a weak dollar has accelerated oil's rally this
year.
News that the world's top oil exporter planned to boost
output to bring down prices, had weighed on the market since
oil touched a record near $140 a barrel on Monday.
On Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush called on the
Congress to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling to help ease
prices, but analysts said this would bring little quick relief
to consumers. []
Venezuela reiterated on Thursday that high oil prices are
not due to production issues and it would only hike oil output
under an OPEC accord. []
The oil minister said Venezuela would not attend the Saudi
meeting this Sunday, and that there was no need for OPEC to
meet before its scheduled September meeting.
In the United States, official data showed crude oil stocks
fell for a fifth week in a row, lending further support for
crude prices. []
Stocks of distillates, including heating oil and diesel,
rose by 2.6 million barrels, above forecasts for a
1.8-million-barrel rise, while U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell
1.2 million barrels, compared with calls for an 800,000-barrel
rise.
Later on Thursday, traders will watch U.S. data on initial
jobless benefit claims and leading economic indicators for May,
to gauge the economic health of the world's No.1 oil consumer.
(Reporting by Chua Baizhen, Editing by Sambit Mohanty)
