Oil prices rose in Asian trading hours, boosted by lower US inventories and concern about a cold snap in the northeast of the US, the world's biggest consumer of heating oil, dealers said.
At 10.43 am here (0243 GMT), the New York Mercantile Exchange's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, was up 0.25 usd at 61.65 usd a barrel from 61.40 usd in late trading in the US overnight, after the contract had jumped there by 2.05 usd.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery had gained 0.23 usd at 62.28 usd. The contract had risen by 2.22 usd in London.
Steve Rowles, an analyst with CFC Seymour in Hong Kong, said: 'Demand is increasing because of the cold weather. The colder it is, the higher the demand for heating oil, and supply is falling because of the OPEC production cuts. The fundamentals of supply and demand are coming back into play.'
Temperatures in the northeastern US are expected to be well below the seasonal average until at least the start of next month, forecasters say.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) said overnight that crude oil inventories had unexpectedly declined by 3.3 mln barrels to 332.3 mln in the week ended Oct 20, compared to market forecasts of an increase on a similar scale.
It was the biggest weekly fall since July, but the DoE said crude levels 'remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year.'
US crude oil imports averaged 9.5 mln barrels per day (bpd) last week, down a hefty 936,000 bpd from the week before.
Levels of distillate products, including heating oil and diesel fuel, were down 1.4 mln barrels at 144 mln over the week. Gasoline stocks fell 2.8 mln barrels to 207.4 mln.
Phil Flynn, at Alaron Trading, said the steep drop in US imports 'may mean that some OPEC countries have already started to reduce their production.'
The 11-member OPEC said Friday it would to cut output by 1.2 mln bpd from Nov 1 in an effort to support prices, which had been trading about 25 pct below the record highs above 78.00 usd they reached in July.
Saudi Arabia, which is to shoulder nearly a third of the output cuts, has told its Asian customers it will reduce their November deliveries by 8 pct, but the market continues to watch whether the cartel can do what it has said it will do.
Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said the United Arab Emirates had joined Saudi Arabia in telling customers that export cuts were coming.
'But other members have yet to provide evidence. With oil prices still relatively high, there is still a good bit of skepticism that the cartel can enforce quota discipline,' he said.
At 10.43 am here (0243 GMT), the New York Mercantile Exchange's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, was up 0.25 usd at 61.65 usd a barrel from 61.40 usd in late trading in the US overnight, after the contract had jumped there by 2.05 usd.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery had gained 0.23 usd at 62.28 usd. The contract had risen by 2.22 usd in London.
Steve Rowles, an analyst with CFC Seymour in Hong Kong, said: 'Demand is increasing because of the cold weather. The colder it is, the higher the demand for heating oil, and supply is falling because of the OPEC production cuts. The fundamentals of supply and demand are coming back into play.'
Temperatures in the northeastern US are expected to be well below the seasonal average until at least the start of next month, forecasters say.
The US Department of Energy (DoE) said overnight that crude oil inventories had unexpectedly declined by 3.3 mln barrels to 332.3 mln in the week ended Oct 20, compared to market forecasts of an increase on a similar scale.
It was the biggest weekly fall since July, but the DoE said crude levels 'remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year.'
US crude oil imports averaged 9.5 mln barrels per day (bpd) last week, down a hefty 936,000 bpd from the week before.
Levels of distillate products, including heating oil and diesel fuel, were down 1.4 mln barrels at 144 mln over the week. Gasoline stocks fell 2.8 mln barrels to 207.4 mln.
Phil Flynn, at Alaron Trading, said the steep drop in US imports 'may mean that some OPEC countries have already started to reduce their production.'
The 11-member OPEC said Friday it would to cut output by 1.2 mln bpd from Nov 1 in an effort to support prices, which had been trading about 25 pct below the record highs above 78.00 usd they reached in July.
Saudi Arabia, which is to shoulder nearly a third of the output cuts, has told its Asian customers it will reduce their November deliveries by 8 pct, but the market continues to watch whether the cartel can do what it has said it will do.
Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said the United Arab Emirates had joined Saudi Arabia in telling customers that export cuts were coming.
'But other members have yet to provide evidence. With oil prices still relatively high, there is still a good bit of skepticism that the cartel can enforce quota discipline,' he said.
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