Oil Rises on Concern Attacks May Further Cut Nigeria Production

Crude oil rose after rebels who knocked out a fifth of Nigeria’s oil production threatened further attacks against Africa’s largest producer.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, will resume its offensive “without further warning,” Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman for the group, said today. MEND aims to shut 30 percent of Nigeria’s production this month, after halting almost a fifth of its output with an attack on an export terminal six days ago. U.S. crude stockpiles were 12 percent higher than average last week.

..Demand for gasoline in the U.S. rose 2.3 percent in the four weeks through Feb. 17 from the year-earlier period, according to the Energy Department.

Bloomberg