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Oil rose over US$58 a barrel on Thursday amid signs of falling crude exports from producer group Opec and rising tensions between the United States and Iran over its nuclear programme.
US crude oil was up 53 cents at US$58.24 a barrel at 1848 GMT, after Wednesday's US$1.17 fall. London Brent crude was up 33 cents at US$57.56.
Opec exports in January were down 200,000 barrels from December, according to shipping data from Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit, bringing the cartel closer to its pledged supply cuts. The group's exports are expected to edge even lower in February, oil consultancy Oil Movements said in a separate report.
At meetings in October and December, Opec agreed to remove a total 1.7 million bpd from the market by February.
"It seems that the more reluctant Opec members are slowly implementing cutbacks, so the resulting impact on inventories in a period of colder weather, coupled with anticipation of further cuts to come, could help push up prices," said David Dugdale, an analyst at MFC Global Investment Management.
Adding support to oil prices, Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target US interests around the world if it came under attack over its disputed nuclear programme.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, and the United States are locked in a war of words over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Washington says is being channelled into bomb-building, a charge Tehran denies.
Washington said the United States planned to stick to firm diplomacy, not go to war with the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, a deep freeze in the United States was carving into the top energy consumer's thick fuel stockpiles, though some analysts said the cold would not be enough to launch oil prices back over US$60 a barrel.
"The bottom line is that distillate demand and the subsequent drawdown in stocks were just not large enough to provide the ammunition needed to break and stay over US$60 a barrel," said Peter Beutel, an analyst at Cameron Hanover.
- REUTERS
