Oil prices soar to $59 again

Oil prices rose on Monday, adding to big gains late on Friday that took US crude back to $59 a barrel.London August Brent gained 36 cents to...

Oil prices rose on Monday, adding to big gains late on Friday that took US crude back to $59 a barrel.

London August Brent gained 36 cents to $57.90 a barrel after gains of nearly $2 on Friday.

US crude, shut on Monday for the July 4 public holiday, surged by $2.25 on Friday to end at $58.75 a barrel.

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Prices have staged a rapid recovery from last week’s 3-day fall of $5 after Monday’s record $60.95.

Dealers said the profit-taking sell-off was short-lived after concerns resurfaced about refiners’ ability to build stocks of middle distillate products heating oil and diesel ahead of peak seasonal demand in the fourth quarter.

‘‘All the worries regarding the winter are still there,’’ said Frederic Lasserre of SG Commodities. ‘‘I think we will see $60 again … and some of the funds may have $65 in mind.’’

‘‘The march of the bulls continues to be fed by fears of the fourth quarter,’’ said Washington-based consultancy PFC Energy.

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‘‘Will supply, particularly of middle distillates, be adequate to meet fourth quarter demand?’’

Adding to bullish sentiment, Opec last week suspended talks on increasing official output limits by another 500,000 barrels per day.