NEW DELHI: Oil rebounded yesterday after a sharp fall at the end of last week, with forecasts for another US cold spell offsetting Opec's plan to keep output at near full-throttle through the winter. US crude rose 29 cents to $US59.68 ($NZ84.30) a barrel, recovering from a 2.1 per cent slide on Friday. Prices earlier hit an intraday high of $59.96. London Brent crude was up 38 cents to $57.69 a barrel. Oil raced to its highest level in five weeks on Friday and natural gas set a second consecutive record-high above $15 per million British thermal units as icy weather gripped the US Northeast and Midwest, driving up demand for heating fuels.
Profit-taking reversed those gains by Friday's close, but prospects for another cold snap at the weekend - after a period of more moderate weather - kept the market supported.
Ahead of Opec's meeting later yesterday in Kuwait, cartel President Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah and Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the group would carry on pumping at its highest level for 25 years, about 30 million barrels daily.
"Supply seems to be somewhat ahead of demand and as you can see in this meeting we are leaving things as they are," Naimi told reporters.
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