Oil futures rose Thursday, with forecasts of cold weather in the U.S. Northeast outweighing bearish sentiment bred just a day earlier by news of increased U.S. crude oil and gasoline stocks, AP reported. Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose 43 cents to settle at $61.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil futures fell less than a penny to settle at $1.8539 per gallon, while gasoline futures rose less than a penny to settle at $1.5926 per gallon. Natural gas was down 20.8 cents to settle at $13.832 per 1,000 cubic feet. Oil prices are well below the late August peak of $70.85 a barrel, but analysts said the approach of the Northern Hemisphere winter was expected to keep a firm floor under prices, primarily because of heating oil demand in Europe and the United States. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting this year's winter in the U.S. will be colder than last year, but warmer than the 30-year average. --SP 2259 Local Time 1959 GMT
