Reply #2: Oil hovers around $61 on OPEC, US cold

[ozymandius]

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Oil held near $61 on Tuesday after OPEC paved the way for a production cut early next year and forecasters predicted more cold weather in the northeast United States, the world's biggest heating oil market.

Oil raced three percent higher on Monday after OPEC moved to pull output within an official 28 million barrels per day limit and said an offer to sell all its spare oil would lapse.

-cut-

OPEC, which supplies a third of the world's crude, also said it would meet again on January, earlier than expected, with a view to cutting output in spring when demand normally eases.

"Basically, we had an unexpected rally after the OPEC meeting yesterday as OPEC took a stronger stand than people expected," said Deborah White, senior energy analyst with SG Commodities in Paris. "The market is realising that the change is so small to be materially insignificant."

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