LONDON, Dec 5: Oil prices extended pre-weekend gains on Monday as cold weather struck the US northeast, the world’s biggest consumer of heating fuel, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, jumped by 58 cents to 59.90 dollars per barrel in pit deals. It had hit an intra-day high of 60.26 dollars earlier Monday.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for January delivery, gained 71 cents to 57.76 dollars per barrel in electronic trading. Prices rose “on expectations that falling temperatures in the US will boost demand for heating oil”, analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm said.

Temperatures were set to hit minus 9 degrees Celsius this week in New York State, according to US forecasters.

Sucden analysts added: “A pick-up in fund buying also lifted the market on concern that despite heating oil stocks being very comfortable, the lack of refinery capacity may mean that supply will struggle to keep up with demand if the cold snap is prolonged.”

Weather forecasters were predicting a prolonged cold snap in the US northeast, which consumes about 80 per cent of the country’s heating oil.

“Now the market is reacting to the cold weather that has finally descended even though the crude oil market is well supplied,” said Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.

Inventories of US distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, jumped by 3.4 million barrels during the week that ended Nov 25, the Department of Energy said last week.

Heating fuel stockpiles are now more than 12pc higher than at the same stage last year.

The DoE data had caused oil prices to fall during the middle of last week before predictions of a cold spell across the northern hemisphere, and in particular the US northeast, brought speculators back to the market.

Oil prices hit a record 70.85 dollars per barrel on August 30 in New York after Hurricane Katrina severely disrupted energy production in the US Gulf of Mexico.—AFP