World oil prices nudge higher amid supply concerns

World oil prices edged higher Friday after rallying the day before on tight energy supplies ahead of the northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating fuel peaks.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, rose 17 cents to 81.60 dollars per barrel.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery climbed 15 cents to 79.12 dollars per barrel.

Crude futures had closed up almost two dollars on Thursday.

"Traders are starting to worry about the heating oil inventory in the US market," said Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.

"In the summer, traders worried about the gasoline (petrol) level. Now, traders are starting to worry about the heating oil level."

Traders focus on reserves in the United States because the country is the world's biggest energy consumer, ahead of number two China.

The US Department of Energy's (DoE) weekly report released Wednesday showed stockpiles of distillates, including heating fuel, unexpectedly dropped by 1.2 million barrels to 135.9 million barrels during the week ended September 28.

Industry analysts had forecast a rise of 1.3 million barrels.

Crude oil rose by 1.2 million barrels last week, the DoE report showed. Most analysts had expected oil reserves to fall.

"The overall oil market remains fundamentally tight in the fourth quarter," Shum said.

He expects oil prices to stay around the 80-dollar level.

"The market has been near the 80-dollar mark for about three weeks and generally the support level is quite strong at above 79 dollars. When pricing dips to 79 dollars, many investors consider this as a buy opportunity," he said.

However MF Global analyst Ed Meir said the bias should remain lower over the next few weeks, "especially if the hurricane window starts to wind down."

The seasonal hurricane season last month disrupted output at rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn hit refinery production.

Last Friday, Brent oil hit a record high 81.05 dollars per barrel, while New York crude struck an all-time peak of 84.10 dollars last month.