NEW YORK, Dec 2: World oil prices rounded off five days of hefty gains Friday, overcoming earlier profit-taking on new warnings about output cuts from the Opec oil cartel.

A fierce winter storm hitting the US Midwest also supported prices on expectations of rising demand for heating oil, traders said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, rose 30 cents to close out the week at $63.43 a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 36 cents to settle at $64.62 a barrel.

Both contracts have rallied to their highest points since September this week as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries steps up warnings that it plans to reduce its oil production further.

In October, the 11 Opec nations approved a reduction in their combined output of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to put a floor under falling oil prices. The cartel meets again in Nigeria on December 14.

“There is likely to be some further trimming, Opec's sitting president, Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru, said Friday, indicating a reduction of at least half a million bpd.

When we meet, we will look at the data and the trend and I do not expect anything less at this meeting, he told journalists.

The actual amount (to be cut) would depend on circumstances. And what we are seeing now will definitely influence our decision: how much to cut. Analysts have argued in recent weeks that Opec has stalled on implementing its October cut. But Saudi Arabia and other cartel producers have warned that another reduction is likely when they meet in Abuja in two weeks.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in Cairo on Friday that markets were significantly oversupplied because inventories in the US remain very high, Alaron Trading analyst Phil Flynn said.

He also said that it would take 100 million barrels out of the market to achieve balance. It certainly means that Opec would have to take more oil off the market, he said.

Crude futures accelerated their rally on Wednesday after government data revealed that US crude oil stocks fell 300,000 barrels to 340.8 million in the week ended November 24 -- the first weekly drop for a month.

Levels of distillate products, including heating oil and diesel fuel, fell 1.0 million barrels to 132.8 million over the week, while gasoline reserves also fell.

But the Department of Energy stressed that US fuel reserves remain healthy for this time of year.—-AFP