Oil prices climbed over a dollar on Wednesday against fears over a possible OPEC output cut this spring countered a rise in crude and petrol stocks in the United States.
US light crude rose $1.14 to $48.40 a barrel on the NYMEX.
In London's IPE Brent crude futures rose 91 cents to $46.30 a barrel.
The gains came after the US Energy Information Administration warned an OPEC cut this spring could slice into a year-on-year inventory surplus in the world's largest energy consumer and make it hard for refiners to make fuel.
OPEC decided to cut its output limits to counter an expected decline in second-quarter global demand. The cartel, which controls 40 per cent of world oil exports, will meet in mid-March. The cartel?s Secretary General Adnan Shihab-Eldin said on Wednesday that the group was leaning towards a plan to reduce oil production at its mid-March meeting in Iran.
