NYMEX-Oil climbs for the fourth session, nears $75

PERTH, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed toward $75 a
barrel on Thursday, extending the previous session's gains,
lifted by an upbeat oil demand growth estimate by the U.S.
Energy Information Administration.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for March delivery CLc1 rose 35 cents to
$74.87 a barrel by 0108 GMT. The contract settled 77 cents
higher at $74.52 a barrel on Wednesday, capping a three-day
rise in which oil has gained 4.7 percent.

* The EIA on Wednesday forecast world oil demand to rise
1.2 million barrels per day in 2010 from a year earlier,
raising its forecast by 120,000 barrels a day from a previous
one. [ID:nWNA3724]

* It also forecast that oil prices would average $81 a
barrel in the second half of the year, up 9 percent from
current levels.

* A second blizzard in a week buried the U.S. Northeast on
Wednesday, breaking a century-old snowfall record in the
nation's capital, leaving thousands without power and creating
a multimillion-dollar mess. [ID:nN10145845]

* A Nigerian militant group warned on Wednesday of further
unrest in the oil-producing Niger Delta, saying that Vice
President Goodluck Jonathan's assumption of power as acting
president was illegal. [ID:nLDE6192L9]

MARKETS NEWS

* The U.S. dollar was broadly higher, drawing support from
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who laid out the gameplan
for how he would dismantle the extensive emergency supports put
in place to bolster the economy. [ID:nWEQ003786] [USD/]

* U.S. stocks edged lower and prices of Treasuries fell on
Wednesday as comments by Bernanke on the U.S central bank's
strategy as the economy recovers sparked investor jitters.
[MKTS/GLOB]

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Thursday ECON:

China CPI, PPI (0200 GMT)

IEA monthly report (0900 GMT)

Weekly U.S. jobless claims (1330 GMT)

Japan - national holiday

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(Reporting by Fayen Wong; Editing by Himani Sarkar)