LONDON, Jan 3: World oil prices rose further on Tuesday after Russia’s energy row with neighbour Ukraine disrupted gas supplies across Europe, hit also by cold weather.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, rose 21 cents to $61.25 per barrel in electronic trading compared with Friday’s close before the long New Year holiday weekend.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery won 37 cents to $59.35 per barrel compared with Friday’s close.

It is very cold in Europe, said Investec analyst Bruce Evers, as he explained the reasons behind Tuesday’s price rises.

The US is still quite mild but northern Europe is very cold.

In addition to the cold weather there may be an element of people worrying about supply disruptions of gas coming into western Europe owing to the Russia-Ukraine dispute, he added.

On Tuesday, Russia was restoring gas supplies to European nations after key markets felt the squeeze from an ongoing price war with Kiev.

The work of restoring supplies is almost finished and Gazprom fulfils all its obligations to European consumers, said Sergei Kupriyanov, official spokesman for the Russian state-controlled energy firm.

The row erupted when Gazprom, which controls a third of global natural gas reserves, demanded an immediate rise in Soviet-era gas tariffs to Ukraine.

Supplies were cut Sunday after Kiev rejected the price hike, in turn affecting Europe which imports a fifth of its natural gas from Russia via Ukraine.

Russian and Ukrainian energy officials said that executives from Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz energy company would travel to Moscow Tuesday for talks to resolve the crisis.—AFP