Oil below 63 dollar on profit taking after two-month high

SINGAPORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) Oil eased on Friday as traders took profits after prices hit two-month highs above ahead of a cold weekend that would boost demand in the world's top heating oil market.

U.S. light crude was 50 cents lower at .63 a barrel at 0424 GMT, after it settled 67 cents higher at .13, having earlier touched .77 -- its highest level since Sept. 28.

Brent crude was down 36 cents at .90 a barrel.

''Yesterday toward the close the market went down, and it was led by products, and this morning that kind of trend still continues,'' Hiroyuki Kitakata at Barclays Capital said.

Dealers are bracing for the approach of colder winter weather to the U.S. Northeast, where temperatures are seen to fall 3-6 degrees Fahrenheit below normal by Monday, Meteorlogix said. The forecast came while U.S. heating oil stocks fell by 1.1 million barrels last week, despite expectations of a build.

S] News that OPEC could strengthen its clout by adding three members also gave the market a lift. Ecuador, Angola and Sudan have expressed interest in joining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which currently pumps more than a third of world crude output and holds 75 percent of global reserves.

The three producers would boost OPEC's output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), or 6 percent.

With oil prices above , OPEC members have mixed views on whether the group needs to add to production cuts of 1.2 million bpd agreed in October, when they meet in two weeks in Nigeria.

Venezuela's energy minister said he believed there was a consensus within OPEC on a production cut when they meet on Dec. 14, and the South American producer could propose shaving as much as 500,000 bpd off the cartel's output. Algeria's oil minister also said he would support an OPEC decision for a further cut.

But Kuwait's energy minister saw no need to deepen the cuts if prices hold near a barrel.

Dollar-denominated oil continued to be supported by the U.S.

currency's near 14-year low against the pound and 20-month trough versus the euro as the dollar's weakness makes oil cheaper, helping the oil market break through a two-month trading rut.

''The bullish developments have spurred investors such as commodity hedge funds to move back into energy futures,'' said Andrew Harrington, analyst at ANZ Bank in Sydney.

The market, meantime, is watching for developments after the U.S.

government warned American private financial services on Thursday of an al Qaeda call for a cyber attack against online stock trading and banking Web sites beginning on Friday.

REUTERS SY PM1019