Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for a third session in New York after rebels attacked oil facilities, halting almost a fifth of Nigeria's output, and threatened to intensify their offensive.

Since Feb. 18, militants have assaulted a Royal Dutch Shell Plc export terminal and a pipeline, kidnapped nine foreign workers and idled 455,000 barrels a day of output. Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, wanted to pump more crude, giving OPEC some extra capacity to deal with any interruptions in the world's supply.

Crude oil for March delivery jumped as much as $1.62, or 2.7 percent, to $61.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reflecting similar gains in London yesterday, when Nymex was closed for President's Day. Oil was up $1.52 at 1:21 p.m. London time. It has still retreated 13 percent from a record $70.85 in August.

Nigeria's oil minister, Edmund Daukoru, said last month the country's capacity would rise by 600,000 barrels a day by mid-2006, or 23 percent, and reach 4 million a day in 2007, up from 2.6 million a day now. Actual production in January dropped 3.7 percent from December to 2.36 million barrels a day, after the rebels bombed pipelines.

Nigeria, the fifth-biggest supplier to the U.S., produces low- sulfur, or sweet, crude oil, prized by refiners for the proportion of high-value gasoline it yields. Among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, only Saudi Arabia can pump more oil to compensate for disruptions, although the kingdom's crude is harder to process.

Today, Russia failed to convince Iran to let it carry out uranium enrichment for the Islamic republic. The U.S. and European countries say Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons. Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, denies the claim. Russia will continue talks with Iran on Feb. 23 in Tehran, the Iranian capital, Interfax reported today, citing Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's Federal Agency Nuclear Energy.

Iranian officials left Moscow today after a second-day of negotiations. Russia, which is building a nuclear power complex for Iran in Bushehr, is proposing to carry out uranium enrichment for Iran and then deliver the fuel, a compromise designed to allay international concerns about the country developing nuclear weapons while guaranteeing Iran access to nuclear fuel.

Speculation Iran would retaliate with an oil embargo if it's referred to the United Nations for economic sanctions sent prices to $69.20 on Jan. 23, their highest in more than four months.

The talks between Russia and Iran in Moscow took place two weeks before the UN's nuclear watchdog agency meets in Vienna to decide whether to formalize Iran's referral to the Security Council. The International Atomic Energy Agency voted on Feb. 4 to refer Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, to the UN for possible sanctions.

The oil shutdown in Nigeria includes the EA offshore field, with a capacity of 115,000 barrels a day, and Shell's Forcados export terminal, among the country's largest. Shell is the biggest foreign producer in Nigeria, accounting for about half of the West African country's output.

In Ecuador, the state oil producer, PetroEcuador, halted crude exports yesterday after protests shut down a pipeline, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a company spokesman.

Oil in New York has still dropped 9.5 percent this month because of gains in U.S. stockpiles. A mild winter in the Northeast has allowed supplies to accumulate to above-average levels.

OPEC, the source of more than a third of the world's oil, next meets in Vienna on March 8 to discuss whether it should cut output to prevent stockpiles from building up during the second quarter, when demand for demand recedes in industrialized nations. The rebound in prices of the past three days may make it harder for the 11 OPEC countries to curb production.

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