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World oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday on concerns that cold weather in the United States would increase demand for heating fuel, traders said.

Prices rose despite Norway's leading oil company Statoil saying it was ready to resume production at its Snorre A platform in the North Sea after a 10-day halt due to safety problems, and concerns that the OPEC oil-producing cartel may fail to cut output as promised.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, advanced 49 cents to 59.30 dollars per barrel in pit trading.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gained 54 cents to 59.75 dollars per barrel in electronic deals.

North-eastern parts of the United States are experiencing colder than normal temperatures heading into the northern hemisphere winter, with the state of New York already having snow.

The US north-east, the world's biggest consumer of heating fuel, is expected to see temperatures of between five and 15 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average until at least the start of November, according to The Weather Channel.

Demand for US heating fuel was set to jump by 15 per cent above the seasonal average next week, according to Weather Derivatives.

Traders were meanwhile gearing up for tomorrow's market update on the state of energy stockpiles in the United States, which is the world's biggest consumer of energy.