Oil rises above $60 on Nigerian cuts, Iran

By Robert Campbell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a month on Friday as Nigeria moved to cut output and amid worries about mounting tension between the United States and Iran.

U.S. crude oil CLc1 rose 95 cents to $60.66 a barrel by 1:47 p.m. (1847 GMT) Earlier, it hit a session peak of $60.80, its highest level since January 3.

London Brent crude LCOc1 was up 52 cents to $59.55.

Nigeria on Friday cut seven cargoes of crude oil from its February export program, firming up earlier plans to improve its compliance with OPEC production cuts. Another 11 cargoes were cut from the March program.

Doubts over whether some OPEC members were willing to comply with the group's planned output reduction of 1.7 million barrel per day have pressured oil prices in recent weeks.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target U.S. interests worldwide if it came under attack over its nuclear program.

Traders were also nervous ahead of the anniversary on Sunday of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, analysts said, citing worries the war of words could intensify between OPEC oil producer Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

But they had yet to be convinced Friday's price gains would be maintained.

"To stay above $60 on a sustainable basis would take some confirmation the Iranian situation is deteriorating further," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix.

Reduced supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have helped boost prices, which in January fell to a 20-month low of $49.90 for U.S. crude.

OPEC's overall exports in January fell by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December, shipping data from Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit showed, bringing the group closer to its pledged supply cut of 1.2 million bpd from November.

The group's exports were expected to fall again in February with implementation of a second OPEC cut of 500,000 bpd.

Kuwait's oil minister said on Friday that OPEC had removed enough supply to prevent a large build in global stockpiles and that the cartel would not need to cut more production when it meets again in March. nL09703415

In Europe, gasoline stockpiles fell last month by nearly a tenth from a year earlier after poor profit margins encouraged refiners to make other products.

Data from Euroilstock showed inventories declined 13.62 million barrels in January to 136.94 million barrels in the 16 countries monitored. Please click on <O/EUROIL1> to see full story.

(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori, Angela Moon, Janet McBride, Barbara Lewis and Matthew Robinson)