Prices Hit High on Us Cold Snap

Oil prices rose to a six-week high yesterday on fears of a cold snap in the United States and lower stocks of crude.

US light crude figures gained more than $1.50 a barrel to touch $48.05 in New York, while Brent crude leapt by a similar amount in London to $45.20 a barrel.

Both were a six-week high and will ring alarm bells in central banks around the world, which had assumed that the oil price spike of 2004 - which saw US crude rise above $55 a barrel and pushed inflation up around the world - was over.

The jump was driven partly by a drop in US crude stocks reported on Wednesday but mainly by forecasts of a cold spell ahead in the north-east of the US, the world's largest regional heating oil market.

Mark Waggoner, of Excel Futures, said: "The rise is weather-related. People are buying because they think the market is going to go up."

Traders will be keeping a close eye on Opec, which is to discuss potential supply cuts when the cartel meets on January 30.