U.S. crude rose 49 cents to $71.76 a barrel by 1515 GMT, having topped $72 earlier. London Brent crude gained 45 cents to $71.51 a barrel.

Nigeria’s main militant group MEND said Friday it had attacked a pipeline operated by Italy’s Agip , close on the heels of previous attacks on facilities operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron . Together, the attacks have cut at least 133,000 barrels of daily output.

Rebels in Nigeria, the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter, have been carrying out attacks on the oil industry for years in what they claim is a struggle aimed at spreading the region’s energy wealth to the poor local communities.

Oil prices also got support from political turmoil in Iran, the world’s fifth largest exporter, in the wake of its presidential election.

“We will see support continue to come from Iran and Nigeria. There is no immediate supply threat from Iran but in Nigeria, (there) is an actual physical disruption,” oil analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix said.

Analysts said gains on Wall Street, fed by optimism that the worst of the economic recession was over, encouraged commodity buying by brightening the outlook for demand.

Oil prices have nearly doubled since February on signs of a potential economic recovery but the pace of the rally has sparked concerns prices are not well supported by fundamentals.

Adding to optimism in oil markets, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Friday Americans drove more miles in April than they did a year earlier, marking the first monthly rise in U.S. highway travel in more than a year.

NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters)

The following was taken from the 60-Second Buzz on TFN.

Watch this video.

Welcome to the 60-Second Buzz.

I’m Ian Cooper, editor for SC Trading Pit and Pure Energy Trader.

Blood-in-the-streets investing may sound cold, heartless, and a cheap way to make a buck, but we’re investors. We’re looking for the political turmoil… financial hardships… assassinations… bloody uprisings… the events that seed wealth. So when Bear Stearns imploded on liquidity issues, how could you help but use the crisis-led broad market sell-off as a buying opportunity. At least, that’s what we did at SC Trading Pit.

After a troubling February 2008 incident that took MF Global from $30 to $14, insiders began loading up — including CEO Kevin Davis who bought 60,000 shares between $16.28 and $17.15.

And all was going well… until Bear Stearns got a $2 buyout offer and rumors of MF Global’s demise began circulating. With Bear Stearns, MF Global plummeted 78% on fears that the collapse could spread.

But the sell-off was nothing more than overreaction, and we bought the stock only to watch it snap back two days later. Per Briefing.com: “The company is very well capitalized with $1.4 bln in a committed, undrawn credit facility. As previously announced, as of today, volumes and net revs for the current quarter to date remain at higher levels than in any comparable period during the current fiscal year.”

Plus, the company has enough cash ($46.6 billion) to offset debt and no liquidity crisis. This was a stock taken down on nothing more than false rumor, and quickly became a “blood in the streets” buying opportunity, one that helped some SC Trading Pit readers realize a quick 60% gain. But the opportunity to buy hasn’t passed… There’s still a gap to be filled.

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