Oil rises $1 on colder weather forecasts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose $1 to over $88 a barrel on Thursday as forecasts for colder weather in the giant U.S. Northeast heating oil market overcame worries over the economic health of the world's top consumer.

"I think the contract found some support just below $87 a barrel," said Eric Wittenauer, analyst at AG Edwards.

Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it was halting 130,000 barrels per day of Nigerian output because of pipeline leaks. Total has also shut around 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent in output from its North Sea oilfields.

Analysts said the builds reflect weakening U.S. demand and was the latest in a steady stream of bad news on the U.S. economy despite aggressive interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices have tumbled from their January record above $100 on mounting concerns of a U.S. recession.

The poll of 20 analysts forecast average world oil demand growth this year at 1.43 million bpd, down from 1.56 million bpd in a similar poll last August and well short of International Energy Agency's forecast of 1.98 million bpd.