LONDON, March 9: World oil prices held close to $60 on Thursday, one day after plunging on news of ample US supplies and an Opec decision to keep pumping at a near 25-year record rate.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, firmed three cents to $60.05 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery gained 76 cents to $60.79 per barrel in electronic deals.

In Thursday trading, “oil futures bounced a little after Wednesday’s fall that was driven by a large rise in crude stocks that pushed total stocks to levels last seen seven years ago”, analysts at the Sucden brokerage said.

On Wednesday, New York crude had hit an intra-day low point of $59.25, while London Brent touched $59.26 — both the lowest levels since Feb 17.

The US Department of Energy reported Wednesday that US crude reserves rose by 6.8 million barrels to 335.1 million in the week to March 3, far exceeding market forecasts.

Despite the current price weakness, dealers said tensions over Iran and Nigeria provided good support for prices.

“Geo-political factors in (Iran and Nigeria) could bring prices back up quickly. Any downside in prices is limited by these geo-political fears,” said Victor Shum, an analyst with Purvin and Gertz.

Despite the slight recovery in prices on Thursday, traders said there was no longer any certainty that they would not fall below $60.

“The $60-level was a good support level but not any more with production levels high and the inventories, which keep building,” said Tony Nunan, a Tokyo-based energy risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp.—AFP