Oil prices edged 0.3 per cent higher today after bad weather forced a loading halt at Alaska's main export terminal and analysts forecast a drawdown in US fuel stocks ahead of winter.
US crude was up 16 cents at $58.96 a barrel earlier today, reversing yesterday's 17-cent loss. London Brent crude rose 18 cents to $59.16.
Prices got a lift from news that crude loadings at the port of Valdez, Alaska, were halted yesterday. High winds forced operators to suspend loadings at the port, slowing the 800,000 barrel per day Trans Alaska Pipeline to 25 per cent of capacity.
But they said distillate stocks, including winter heating oil, are likely to have fallen by 900,000 barrels.
Weather forecaster WSI Corp said yesterday the US northeast, the world's largest heating oil market, will have a colder than normal winter.