Oil edges over $59 on more OPEC backing for cuts

TOKYO, Nov 8 (Reuters) Oil rose above $59 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering some of the previous day's losses after Venezuela echoed Saudi Arabia's calls for further OPEC supply cuts.

U.S. crude rose by 31 cents to $59.24 a barrel by 0250 GMT, after sliding $1.09 or 1.8 percent on Tuesday. London Brent crude gained 36 cents to $58.84.

Traders saw the gains as short lived as the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are still split over possible additional export curbs.

Even if further cuts are implemented in December to trim crude supply, it would boost the group's spare capacity ready to meet any possible global supply disruptions, traders said.

''OPEC supply cuts are not actually bullish at all.

Additional cuts means the group will have more spare supply capacity ready,'' said Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures.

OPEC member Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez said on Tuesday the producer group will probably have to make a further oil production cut in December to support prices.

That supports calls from Saudi Arabia, the world's top exporter and the most influential OPEC member.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday the cartel would take action to cut supplies at its Dec. 14 meeting if world markets remain unbalanced, in addition to a 1.2 million barrels per day cut which came into effect as of November 1.

Traders also questioned OPEC member countries' unity on cuts. The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday said it expected the cartel to implement only about 745,000 bpd of the 1.2 million bpd in pledged November cuts.

Kuwait said on Tuesday OPEC's deal to cut supplies had already successfully balanced the market -- a sign that it may not support a further cut when OPEC meets in December.

The group has tried to stem a 24 percent price slide since a record high in July, with prices trading in a month-long range of $57-$62, weighed down by bulging U.S. fuel stockpiles.

The market is now waiting for further direction from weekly U.S. oil inventory data to be released later on Wednesday, forecast to show crude stockpiles rose by a modest 700,000 barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.

''Figures in analysts' forecasts all look modest -- that means there's not much change in supplies or demand,'' Emori said.

Distillate stocks, including heating oil, were expected to be down by 500,000 barrels, while gasoline inventory levels were likely to be unchanged.

REUTERS SBA DS1302