Oil climbs above $ 60, first time in month

SEOUL, Feb 9 (Reuters) Oil prices climbed above a barrel for the first time in a month on Friday, extending a SEOUL, Feb 9 (Reuters) Oil prices climbed above $60 a barrel for the first time in a month on Friday, extending a $2 gain a day earlier, on signs of falling crude exports from producer group OPEC and an outage at a U.S. oilfield.

U.S. crude oil futures gained 44 cents to $60.15 a barrel by 0356 GMT, after hitting $60.42 earlier, the highest since Jan. 3. London Brent crude was up 29 cents to $59.32.

OPEC's exports in January were down 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December, shipping data from Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit showed, bringing the cartel closer to its pledged supply cut of 1.2 million bpd from November.

The group's exports are expected to edge even lower in February, when OPEC planned to cut another 500,000 bpd, oil consultancy Oil Movements said in a separate report.

Adding to the rally was a force majeure on oil and gas supplies by independent producer Occidental Petroleum from its field in Elk Hills, California, after it shut 95 percent of its 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day following a fire.

''With the projected fall in OPEC supplies in the short term, the market has been gaining momentum. It is possible that the market is factoring in (Occidental),'' said Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures Ltd.

Traders said increased tension between the United States and OPEC producer Iran was adding to buying support. Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target U.S. interests worldwide if it came under attack over its 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 reaffirmed it will stick to firm diplomacy in order to avoid war with Iran.

Despite the rapid recovery from a dip below $50 in mid-January, some analysts see difficulty in keeping oil prices above $60 even amid forecasts for a continued U.S. cold spell that will keep heating oil demand strong next week.

''The fall in U.S. heating oil inventory was larger than expected but with the winter season coming to an end, it will not be able to keep prices beyond $60 for long,'' said Koo Ja-kyum, chief analyst at Korea National Oil Crop.

Also on the bearish side, Canadian oil production will grow 9 percent this year to about 2.89 million bpd, the country's national energy regulator said on Thursday, due to growing output from the Alberta oil sands and offshore oil projects.

REUTERS PV PM1410 gain a day earlier, on signs of falling crude exports from producer group OPEC and an outage at a U.S. oilfield.

U.S. crude oil futures gained 44 cents to .15 a barrel by 0356 GMT, after hitting .42 earlier, the highest since Jan. 3. London Brent crude was up 29 cents to .32.

OPEC's exports in January were down 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December, shipping data from Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit showed, bringing the cartel closer to its pledged supply cut of 1.2 million bpd from November.

The group's exports are expected to edge even lower in February, when OPEC planned to cut another 500,000 bpd, oil consultancy Oil Movements said in a separate report.

Adding to the rally was a force majeure on oil and gas supplies by independent producer Occidental Petroleum from its field in Elk Hills, California, after it shut 95 percent of its 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day following a fire.

''With the projected fall in OPEC supplies in the short term, the market has been gaining momentum. It is possible that the market is factoring in (Occidental),'' said Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures Ltd.

Traders said increased tension between the United States and OPEC producer Iran was adding to buying support. Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would target U.S. interests worldwide if it came under attack over its 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 reaffirmed it will stick to firm diplomacy in order to avoid war with Iran.

Despite the rapid recovery from a dip below in mid-January, some analysts see difficulty in keeping oil prices above even amid forecasts for a continued U.S. cold spell that will keep heating oil demand strong next week.

''The fall in U.S. heating oil inventory was larger than expected but with the winter season coming to an end, it will not be able to keep prices beyond for long,'' said Koo Ja-kyum, chief analyst at Korea National Oil Crop.

Also on the bearish side, Canadian oil production will grow 9 percent this year to about 2.89 million bpd, the country's national energy regulator said on Thursday, due to growing output from the Alberta oil sands and offshore oil projects.

REUTERS PV PM1410