World oil prices inched higher on Friday as traders covered their positions before a long weekend for the Christmas break
World oil prices inched higher on Friday as traders covered their positions before a long weekend for the Christmas break.
US light sweet crude February futures added 15 cents to close at $58.43 a barrel.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery gained 14 cents to finish at $56.69 a barrel.
In light pre-holiday trading, prices had earlier been down as a pipeline fire was brought under control in Nigeria, Africa's biggest energy producer.
Traders were keeping a watch over Nigeria, where Royal Dutch Shell said that the fire on its oil pipeline was brought under control overnight.
