Brent down from 7-month high, but momentum seen strong

TOKYO, June 7 (Reuters) - Brent oil prices inched lower on
Tuesday after hitting a seven-month high a day earlier, but the
market momentum looked strong on a weak dollar, attacks on
Nigerian oil infrastructure and falling U.S. crude inventories,
analysts said.
London Brent crude for August delivery LCOc1 was down 13
cents at $50.42 a barrel by 0148 GMT, after settling up 91 cents
on Monday. Brent touched a high of $50.83 in the previous
session, its highest since Nov. 4.
NYMEX crude for July delivery CLc1 was down 7 cents at
$49.62 a barrel, after settling up $1.07 on Monday.
"With Brent staying above $50, oil is on an upward momentum
with the restart of French refineries that were shut on strikes
and pipeline attacks in Nigeria," said Kaname Gokon at brokerage
Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
Preliminary work got underway on Monday to restart three of
Total's TOTF.PA French oil refineries stopped as part of
nationwide strikes against planned changes to employment laws.
Workers were still on strike at the country's two main oil
ports.
Nigerian production of Bonny Light crude oil is down by an
estimated 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) following recent attacks
on pipeline infrastructure, according to an industry source
close to the matter.
The dollar wallowed close to four-week lows against a basket
of currencies on Tuesday, after remarks by Federal Reserve Chair
Janet Yellen failed to toss a lifebuoy to the recently
foundering greenback. USD/
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories likely fell for a
third straight week in the week ended June 3, a preliminary
Reuters poll showed on Monday ahead of the data by the Industry
group the American Petroleum Institute later in the day. EIA/S
Market intelligence firm Genscape reported a drawdown of
1.08 million barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for
WTI futures during the week to June 3, traders who saw the data
said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in Beijing that
concerns about China's business climate have grown due to a more
complex regulatory environment and the Chinese government should
open the door wider to foreign investments.