Oil falls towards $61, OPEC cut unlikely

By Joe Brock

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell towards $61 a barrel on Monday ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, where the group was widely expected to agree to hold output steady.

News Nigerian militants breached an oil pipeline in the Niger Delta failed to push prices higher.

U.S. energy firm Chevron said on Monday the attack on its pipeline shut down 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production.

U.S. crude futures for July delivery fell by 39 cents to $61.27 a barrel by 1712 GMT.

London Brent crude shed 56 cents to $60.22.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. NYMEX floor trading resumes on Tuesday.

Oil prices rallied around 9.5 percent last week, boosted by a spate of U.S. refinery problems and unrest in major oil exporter Nigeria, and are nearly double the lows they hit in December.

They have been also drawn strength from OPEC supply curbs totalling 4.2 million barrels per day since last September, as well as from market sentiment the economic recession is easing and demand for energy will revive.