Oil prices surged more than 1 dollar a barrel Thursday amid forecasts of colder weather in the US northeast and stronger-than-expected economic data, both are considered factors that could boost demand.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 1.15 dollars to settle at 58.47 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after climbing as high as 58.80 dollars in earlier trading Thursday.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for January delivery rallied 1.10 dollars to 56.15 dollars in closing deals.

Heating oil rose nearly 5 cents to settle at 1.7387 dollars a gallon, while gasoline gained more than 6 cents to settle at 1. 5626 dollars a gallon.

According to a US Commerce Department report Wednesday, gross domestic product rose at a 4.3 percent annual rate in the third quarter, which stoked many traders' belief that energy demand could outpace supplies into the coming year.

Oil prices had fallen on Wednesday and into early Thursday following a jump in US heating fuel stocks that had eased worries of a possible supply shortage during the northern hemisphere winter.

However, the US Department of Energy's Information Energy Administration said Thursday that inventories of natural gas fell 49 billion cubic feet to 3.225 trillion cubic feet in the week ending Nov. 25. That is more than 2 percent below year-ago levels, but more than 6 percent above the five-year average.

Traders are unsure whether this weekend's storm augurs sustained cold weather or a temporary chill, and whether US demand for oil will really start outpacing supplies.

They are also looking ahead to a Dec. 12 meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC has said it is unlikely to make cuts in output, but it seems to be trying to keep output steady at current levels so prices do not rise toward the 70-dollar-a-barrel mark again.

Analysts expect OPEC to maintain its official production quota at 28 million barrels per day, along with an option to pump an additional 2 million bpd if demand required it.

Source: Xinhua