LONDON, Dec 6: Oil prices climbed on Tuesday owing to a cold snap in the United States. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, rose 24 cents to 60.15 dollars per barrel in pit deals. Prices had eased slightly during electronic trading earlier Tuesday after solid gains overnight.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for January delivery won nine cents to 57.84 dollars per barrel in electronic trading.

“The arrival of colder than normal temperatures in key US oil and gas consuming regions is exerting strong upward pressure on energy prices,” Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.

Gains could be short lived, however, with cold weather forecast for the remainder of the week and amid sufficient levels of US energy supplies, analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm said.

Oil futures had pushed higher Monday following weekend snowfall in the US northeast, the world’s biggest consumer of heating fuel.

New York crude had jumped 59 cents to close at 59.91 dollars on Monday, after earlier trading as high as 60.80 dollars. They had not topped 60 dollars a barrel since November 4.

Milder than expected weather during October and much of November across the United States and Europe has allowed refiners to build up stocks of heating fuel ahead of the peak-demand northern hemisphere winter.

With this in mind, market expectations are for a rise of one million barrels in US distillates reserves, when the Department of Energy publishes its stockpiles data on Wednesday. Distillates include diesel and heating oils.

Analysts’ forecasts are for a one-million-barrel decline in crude stocks.

Further ahead, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets in Kuwait City on December 12 for their latest production decision.—AFP