* Up on fears of Nigeria strike, Israeli-Iran tensions
* Kuwait to pump 300,000 bpd more in mid-2009, invest $55
bln on oil projects in next five years
* Key events ahead include Fed meet, U.S. oil data
By Osamu Tsukimori and Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - Oil rose for a third straight
session to above $137 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by fears
of Nigerian supply disruptions and tensions between Israel and
Iran.
Crude for August delivery <CLc1> was up a dollar at $137.74
a barrel by 0733 GMT, after settling up $1.38 on Monday. It had
hit a record high of $139.89 on June 16.
August London Brent crude <LCOc1> was trading up 97 cents
at $136.88 a barrel.
Nigeria's senior oil workers union began a limited strike
at Chevron on Monday. While the stoppage has not disrupted
production yet, it added to concerns about supplies from the
OPEC nation after militant attacks shut 340,000 barrels of
daily production last week. []
"The market is focusing on the immediate impact of this
Nigerian attack that reduced production," said Tony Nunan, risk
management executive at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
Ongoing problems in Nigeria have been one of the supply
factors that has helped push U.S. crude up by more than 40
percent this year.
Kuwait, one of the few OPEC members with spare capacity,
will increase its oil output by 300,000 barrels per day
starting mid-2009, and would spend $55 billion on oil projects
in the coming five years, state news agency KUNA reported,
citing Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim.
Analysts said that the news from Kuwait did not have an
impact.
Another support to the market is tension over Iran's
nuclear programme, with analysts worried any conflict could
shut the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow waterway separating Iran
from the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly 40 percent of
the world's traded oil flows.
FOMC MEETING IN FOCUS
The dollar will remain in focus over the next two days as
markets wait for the decision of the Federal Reserve's rate
setting body on Wednesday.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates
unchanged, which should be bearish on the dollar and supportive
to the oil market, analysts said.
On Monday the European Union approved new sanctions on
Iran, including an asset freeze on its biggest bank, over its
refusal to meet demands to end its nuclear programme.
[]
With top energy policy makers who met in Jeddah at the
weekend offering little hope for a quick fix to supply
concerns, there was little relief seen for oil prices.
"Saudi pledged to pump more crude, but other producers did
not follow, which convinced the market to take fresh positions
again," Kageyama said.
OPEC's president weighed in on the side of those saying
there is no need to pump more oil, becoming the latest cartel
member to blame speculation and the dollar for high prices.
[]
Another key piece of data on Wednesday will be U.S. crude
oil inventories, which are likely to have risen for the first
time in six weeks last week, as imports rose for the second
week in a row, a Reuters preliminary poll showed. []
The poll of six analysts showed an average forecast for a
200,000-barrel rise in crude stocks, a 1.4 million-barrel gain
in distillates and a 400,000-barrel rise in gasoline
inventories last week.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
