Oil rose above $61 today on expectations that colder weather for the US Northeast would boost demand in the world's top heating oil market.
US light crude rose 9 cents to $61.08 a barrel earlier, after climbing 67 cents yesterday to take gains for the week towards $2.
London Brent crude traded 9 cents higher at $61.30 a barrel, extending 77-cent gains yesterday.
Private forecaster AccuWeather said on Monday that cold weather would hit the US East Coast by the weekend, ending a stretch of above-normal temperatures that has curbed fuel demand.
Prices are still in a two-month trading range of $58-$62 a barrel, with the market looking for further direction on US demand strength from weekly government inventory data due later today.
Analysts expected that US crude stocks fell by 100,000 barrels last week as refineries cranked up production.
Distillate stocks were seen up by 400,000 barrels and gasoline stocks by 500,000 barrels, the poll showed Oil also has been buoyed by a weaker dollar, which slid to a fresh 20-month low against the euro today, which makes oil cheaper for non US-dollar buyers.
Traders are also looking ahead to OPEC's meeting on December 14th.