UPDATE 1-Oil leaps over $2 in trade frenzy, Brent leads

                                
 * Oil surges more than $2 to new eight-month high
                                
 * Trading volume over 10 times Asia norm, heavy Brent bids
                                
 * On track for 46 pct Q2 gains, biggest since 1990
                                
 By Fayen Wong
                                
 PERTH, June 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 2
percent to a new eight-month high on Tuesday amid a surge in
trading activity concentrated in the ICE Brent futures
contract.
                                
 While improving risk appetite and fresh attacks on oil
facilities in OPEC producer Nigeria provided some fundamental
support, numerous traders in Asia were at a loss to explain why
volumes had surged by 10 times their norms, sending prices
spiking.
                                
 U.S. crude for August delivery <CLc1> rose to a new
eight-month high of $73.38 a barrel, but later cooled to trade
at $72.09, up $1.60 on the day.
                                
 London Brent <LCOc1>, where trading volume in the front
month contract surged to more than 12,000 lots versus the less
than 1,000 lots that normally trade in Asia hours, led the
rally, gaining $1.93 a barrel to $72.92.
                                
 While traders said that the main catalyst for the move
appeared to be Brent, not U.S. crude, the trigger was difficult
to pinpoint.
                                
 "This could be end of quarter movement, and traders are
trying to push prices higher and then selling before closing
their books," said Mark Pervan of ANZ Bank. "Haven't seen any
new catalyst on the news front."
                                
 Driven by hopes of a global economic recovery, oil prices
are on track to post a near 50 percent jump in the second
quarter, the highest quarterly percentage gain since 1990.
                                
 "The equities markets are having a strong performance, so
risk appetite is increasing and that is pushing oil prices
higher. Violence in Nigeria is also supportive," said Victor
Say, an analyst at Informa Global Markets in Singapore.
 (Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Michael Urquhart)