Europe shares off highs, but gain 1.5 pct this week

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday, fed by a rally in energy stocks as crude oil prices hit fresh record highs, although banks fell and U.S. consumer sentiment data knocked the market back from session peaks.

Crude oil futures hitting a high just shy of $128 a barrel drove up the oil and gas sector in Europe, pushing up shares in Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) by 1.4 to 2.3 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.2 percent to close at an unofficial 1,362.76 points, having fallen back from the session high of 1,375.62 after U.S. consumer confidence data hit its worst level in nearly 28 years.

But the index has still gained 1.5 percent this week, helped in large part by fairly robust earnings as well as U.S. data that showed tamer inflation and consumer spending holding up.

"In general terms, the data specifically coming out of the United States has certainly been supportive, despite the fact that we had disappointing consumer confidence numbers today," said Barclays Stockbrokers strategist Henk Potts.

Among the banks, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) lost 3.5 percent, while UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 1.7 percent, Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) shed 2.1 percent and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) lost 0.7 percent.

Reporting by Amanda Cooper)