World oil prices rebounded from earlier declines on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday to close higher as brokers switched off their trading screens for the weekend break.
Oil prices in New York closed out the week well over US$51 as bullish comments from Saudi Arabia's influential oil minister and freezing temperatures in the northern hemisphere continued to buoy the market, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, closed up US$0.22 at US$51.49 a barrel.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in April, spiked US$0.17 to US$49.61 a barrel.
Oil market-watchers said prices had rebounded as traders purchased extra crude options to cover themselves against further price gains early next week.
"It was the usual Friday short-covering ... it's still a pretty firm market," said Marshall Steeves, a market analyst at Refco.
Traders said prices also continued to gain support from comments made by Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Nuaimi on Thursday.
Nuaimi had estimated that prices would remain between US$40 to US50 during 2005.
"I'm always reluctant to make predictions to what the price is, but just looking at the fundamentals, inventories, supply, demand and the worldwide desire for a stable oil market, I believe it will be in this band," the minister told CNBC television.
Saudi Arabia, a key member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is one of the world's most influential oil producing states, largely because of the huge size of the kingdom's vast oil reserves.
Oil prices also were supported by a cold snap that has gripped the US' northeast region and northern Europe in the past week.
"There is a lot of bullish sentiment," said Veronica Smart, an analyst with the Energy Information Center.
"There doesn't seem to be anything dragging down the prices [too far] even when there is some healthy stocks," she said.
US oil inventories increased by 600,000 barrels to 297.0 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 18, placing them in the upper half of the average range for this time of year, the US Department of Energy said on Thursday.
Distillates, which include heating oil, fell by 700,000 barrels to 111.8 million barrels, according to the government, the department said.
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