LONDON, Dec 13: Oil held steady above $61 on Tuesday after Opec paved the way for a production cut early next year and forecasters predicted more cold weather in the northeast United States, the world’s biggest heating oil market.

Adding to bullish sentiment, the International Energy Agency forecast an average 1.8-2.0 million barrels per day rise in global oil demand each year through 2010. That compared with a 1.18 million bpd rise this year.

US crude was up five cents at $61.35 a barrel at 1550 GMT, after earlier rising as high as $61.80. London Brent crude was up two cents at $59.46.

Oil raced three per cent higher on Monday to close at its highest level since Nov 3 after Opec moved to pull output within an official 28m bpd limit and said an offer to sell all its spare oil would lapse. While well below the record $70.85 level reached in late August, crude futures have rebounded a tenth this month and are still up more than 40pc so far this year.

“With WTI oil prices on track to average about $57 a barrel in 2005, we think the past phase will be remembered as the first of what could be a four-to-five-year ‘super-spike’ phase,” Goldman Sachs said in a research report.

Opec said it would meet again in January, earlier than expected, with a view to cutting output in spring when demand normally eases.—AFP