Oil extends rebound toward $ 62 after US stock draw

SINGAPORE, Mar 8 (Reuters) Oil inched higher toward a barrel on Thursday, after soaring nearly 2 percent following a surprise draw in U.S. crude stocks and a deep drop in gasoline inventories.

U.S. crude was up 14 cents a barrel at .96 as of 0248 GMT, adding to a .13 gain on Wednesday. Prices stand near a two-month high of .49 touched a week ago before a bout of equity-induced weakness. London Brent crude was up 13 cents at .63.

U.S. crude stocks plunged 4.8 million barrels last week, against analysts forecast for a rise, after fog along the key Gulf Coast refining and transit hub disrupted imports.

''The market took this as bullish, despite the fact that the delayed crude arrivals will probably show up in imports and stocks next week and possibly the week after,'' said Michael Wittner, global head of energy market research at Calyon.

A 3.8 million barrel fall in gasoline stocks was also much deeper than analysts had expected, stoking concerns about summer supply amid a series of refinery glitches, while distillates stocks declined 1.3 million barrels, data showed.

Heating fuel stocks may fall further as a cold snap hits the U.S. Northeast just two weeks before the end of winter.

''The latest weekly oil data have added to the evidence of a significant degree of market tightening relative to normal patterns,'' Barclays Capital said.

Oil markets have held up well amid two weeks of stock market anxiety triggered by a drop in China's main equities index, aided by fears of a U.S. economic slow-down and exacerbated by a rally in the Japanese yen, the funding currency for many speculative bets.

Oil has recouped its sharp losses on Monday when it finally buckled under the weight of falling financial and commodity markets, and is about half a dollar higher than on Feb. 27, just before the global flight from risk kicked off.

APPROACHING CYCLONE Crude supply news also captured traders' attention, with Cyclone George off the Australian cost shutting down some 156,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production.

In Alaska, BP Plc said it had resumed production at its 47,000 bpd offshore Northstar field after a three-week closure due to a pipeline leak.

Geopolitical issues are also on the radar as dealers track dragging talks over OPEC member Iran's nuclear programme.

EU powers urged Iran on Wednesday to embrace a U.N. idea of a ''timeout'' from nuclear activity they fear could yield atom bombs, saying sanctions they sponsored against Tehran would be simultaneously suspended. Iran rejected the overture, insisting its bid for nuclear energy was peaceful, legal and non-negotiable.

Members of the 35-nation board were expected on Thursday to ratify sharp cuts in IAEA technical aid to Iran, to uphold U.N.

sanctions banning exports of nuclear fuels materials or expertise to Tehran.

REUTERS CS DS1143