LONDON, Oct 10: Oil prices recorded further strong gains on Friday due to a combination of fund buying and concerns about supplies of heating fuel ahead of the looming northern hemisphere winter.

The price of reference Brent North Sea crude oil for November delivery rose 43 cents to $30.57 per barrel in late deals.

New York’s benchmark light sweet crude November contract gained 84 cents to $31.85 per barrel in early trade.

“It is fund buying ahead of the long weekend,” said Commerzbank analyst David Thomas, referring to the closure of US markets on Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.

“We are also seeing a continuation of concerns over supplies in the winter, with heating oil stocks being down,” he said.

On Thursday, prices had surged by more than a dollar a barrel after traders fretted about weekly figures for US oil and fuel inventories, released the previous day.

This data, released on Wednesday, initially sent prices down due to a bigger than expected rise in stockpiles of crude oil.

However with colder weather forecast for the United States, markets became concerned about a possible shortfall in heating oil supplies.—AFP