* U.S. crude inventories fall just as production also
declines
* Nigerian oil pipeline attacks push up Brent
* OPEC meeting this week not expected to impact output
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up in early
trading on Monday as the peak demand U.S. summer driving season
officially kicks off just as its crude production falls to its
lowest level since September 2014.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were
trading at $49.44 per barrel at 0108 GMT, up 11 cents from their
last settlement.
International Brent futures were at $49.36 a barrel, up 4
cents.
"Oil prices stayed within touch of $50 per barrel despite
news that some Canadian oil sands producers were planning on
restarting operations," ANZ said on Monday.
Oil producer Suncor Energy SU.TO is planning to ramp up
output at its oil sands fields in Alberta this week after it was
forced to shut down earlier in May due to massive wildfires.
Despite the expected rise in Canadian output, ANZ bank said
that WTI price support "still lingers" after the large fall in
U.S. oil inventories late last week by 4.2 million barrels to
537 million barrels due to strong demand.
Traders said that the official start to the U.S. peak demand
summer driving season, which kicks off with Memorial Day on
Monday, was the main reason for rising seasonal demand.
This came just as U.S. crude oil production fell to 8.77
million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest level since September
2014, and down 8.77 percent since their June 2015 peak.
In global oil markets, Brent prices have been supported by a
series of supply disruptions in Nigeria, where militants have
been staging a wave of attacks on oil pipelines, cutting the
country's output to more than two decade lows.
Attention will also be on a meeting by the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna this week,
although most analysts do not expect any decisions that would
lead to changes in production.