LONDON, Dec 22: World oil prices climbed slightly on Friday at the end of a week in which support has come mainly from a drop in US crude inventories. Friday's gains were limited, however, owing to mild winter weather in one US region, which reduces demand for heating fuel. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, nudged up five cents to $362.61 in pit trading after climbing above $63 in earlier electronic deals.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose 22 cents to $62.68 in electronic trading.

“Crude futures were firmer... reversing some of the losses from the session before on mild weather in the US northeast,” Sucden analyst Michael Davies said.

The US National Weather Service has said that unusually warm weather was likely to persist into January.

“We are already heading into January and we have not had a cold snap,” said Steve Rowles, an analyst with CFC Seymour in Hong Kong.

“I think the continued story is the mild weather in the US, signalling decreased demand (for heating oil), he said.

Latest figures on Wednesday showed distillate product reserves, which include heating oil and diesel, increased 1.2 million barrels to 133.1 million in the week that ended December 15. Analysts had expected a drop of 600,000 barrels.

However, inventories of crude oil slumped 6.3 million barrels to 329.1 million, more than triple the decline expected by analysts. —AFP