June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for a second day as demand grew for a hedge against a weakening dollar and Morgan Stanley said prices may reach $150 within a month because of accelerating Asian consumption amid declining inventories.

The bank expects a ``spike'' in oil because ``Asia is taking an unprecedented share'' of Middle East exports, wrote analyst Ole Slorer. Investors hedging against the dollar this year have spurred oil, gold and corn to records. Workers at a division of Chevron Corp. in Nigeria threatened to strike because the company hasn't met demands, a union official said.

``One-hundred and fifty as a target is not unrealistic,'' said Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader for BayernLB in Munich. ``Another $15 on top of the record could be the matter of a week. It's mainly driven by financial players as the euro gets stronger again.''

Crude oil for July delivery rose as much as $3.77, or 3 percent, to $131.56 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $131.15 at 1:34 p.m. London time. Futures reached a record $135.09 a barrel on May 22 and are up 99 percent from a year earlier.

Yesterday, oil gained $5.49, or 4.5 percent, to $127.79 a barrel. It was the biggest one-day gain since March 26.

Chevron hasn't responded to demands presented yesterday, Ethelbert Uka, treasurer of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria said by phone from Lagos. Daily production of about 450,000 barrels of crude oil may be threatened, the Lagos-based newspaper reported earlier.

BNP Forecast

BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, boosted its 2008 outlook by 19 percent to $124 on climbing Asian demand for diesel fuel and kerosene to generate electricity and run buses and trucks.

Brent crude oil for July settlement rose as much as $3.08, or 2.4 percent, to $130.62 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $129.26 a barrel at 1:29 p.m. London time. It gained $5.44, or 4.5 percent, to settle at $127.54 a barrel yesterday, the biggest single-day gain since Dec. 12. Prices reached a record $135.14 on May 22.

``Many investors used the latest sell off in the dollar as an excuse to get back into the market,'' said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. in London. ``Concerns that demand is flattening in the near term have been overshadowed by persistent inflationary worries'' and ``limited supplies in the long run.''

The dollar fell against the euro after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank may raise rates next month.

The dollar traded at $1.5593 per euro at 1 p.m. in London from $1.5593 yesterday when it fell 1 percent, the most since April 16. It closed at $1.5554 last week. The yen traded at 106.25 per dollar from 105.94 yesterday, when it touched a three-month low of 106.43. It fell 0.6 percent this week.

-- With reporting by Dulue Mbachu. Editors: Will Kennedy, Jonas Bergman.

To contact the reporters of this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 6, 2008 08:35 EDT