* Oil falls more than $2 on U.S. dollar recovery
* U.S. Treasury, Fed say will help Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
* Iran said would strike its enemies before attacked
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, July 14 (Reuters) - Oil fell over $2 to hover near
$143 a barrel on Monday, following a strong rebound in the U.S.
dollar, which came after U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve
moved to help embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac.
U.S. light crude for August delivery <CLc1> was trading
down $1.67 at $143.41 a barrel by 2349 GMT, after falling as
much as $2.56 to $142.49.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell $1.54 to $142.95.
"Oil's fall this morning is generally due to gains in the
U.S. dollar as well as some profit-taking in the market," said
Gerard Burg, a commodities analyst from the National Australian
Bank in Melbourne.
"But there's still a lot of upside risks and there's
nothing much to stop prices from heading towards the $150 mark
in the coming weeks or months."
The dollar rose in Asia on Monday after the U.S. Treasury
Department and the Federal Reserve announced sweeping measures
to lend money and buy equity if necessary in embattled mortgage
lenders Fannie Mae <FNM.N> and Freddie Mac <FRE.N>. []
The troubles with the mortgage giants -- which control $5
trillion in debt -- had helped pare crude's gains on Friday
after it struck a new record high of $147.27, as dealers
focused on U.S. economic turmoil that has already slowed oil
consumption in the world's top energy user.
Still, analysts said worries about threats to supplies from
Iran and Nigeria as well as a strike by Brazilian oil workers
this week would continue to prop up oil prices.
Iran's president said his country would strike its enemies
before they managed to fire a shot, media reported on Sunday,
part of an escalating war of worlds on its nuclear ambitions
fuelling Middle East tensions. []
Missile tests last week by Iran, against a backdrop of
rising tensions with Israel and the United States, have left
the oil markets worried about a potential supply disruption
from the world's No. 4 exporter.
A planned strike at Brazil's key oil fields, which account
for more than 80 percent of Brazil's crude output of 1.8
million barrels per day, was also keep supply jitters alive.
Brazilian oil workers will begin a five-day strike at the
country's main fields in the Campos Basin from midnight on
Sunday, a union official said. []
In Nigeria, the main militant group in the oil-producing
Niger Delta said last week it was abandoning a cease-fire to
protest against a British offer to help tackle lawlessness.
Oil exports from the world's eighth biggest oil exporter
has fallen by a fifth since 2006 due to escalating violence in
the delta.
Oil prices have risen seven-fold since 2002 amid surging
demand from China and other emerging markets, and jumped 50
percent this year alone, battering the economies of consumer
nations already hit hard by the global credit crunch.
(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
