New York's oil futures rise to near 60 dollars

New York's crude oil futures rose to near 60 U.S. dollars on Friday, amid forecasts for bitterly cold weather across the northeastern U.S. until Feb. 19.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, rose 18 cents to 59.89 dollars per barrel after hitting as high as 60.80 dollars, above 60 dollars a barrel for the first time in five weeks.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery fell 2 cents to 59.01 dollars per barrel.

Forecasters said that the coldest weather of the season could spread the U.S. Northeast until Feb. 19.

Crude prices fell below 50 dollars a barrel on Jan. 18 in New York, hitting their lowest levels since May 2005 due to a sharp increase in U.S. crude stocks and an unusual warm weather.

However, the prices have rebounded since last week as cold weather hit the U.S. Northeast, the biggest heating oil market in the world, spurring demand for heating fuel.

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday that its crude stockpiles shrink by 400,000 barrels to 324.5 million barrels in the week ending February 2. Domestic distillate supplies, including heating oil, lost 3.7 million barrels to 136.3 million. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels to 227.2 million barrels.

OPEC has vowed to reduce supply by half a million barrels per day from Feb. 1 following a 1.2 million-barrel-per day cut since November.

Source: Xinhua