Traders were also looking ahead to Wednesday's weekly update on crude oil reserves in the United States, a major energy consumer.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, closed up 1.37 dollars at 60.17 dollars per barrel, marking a sharp turnaround in recent days.

New York crude had plunged last Friday to 54.86 dollars, the lowest level since June 14, 2005.

In London on Tuesday, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery settled up 1.41 dollars at 60.39 dollars per barrel.

"Oil prices are ... gaining support from supply problems in Alaska, where crude oil loading at the main port of Valdez has slowed to only 25 percent of its usual 800,000 barrels-per-day capacity due to stormy weather," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.

Crude oil loadings at Valdez, Alaska were interrupted Monday for the third time in a week because of bad weather.

Analysts said the news prompted traders to refocus on the adequacy of US supplies heading into the peak-demand northern hemisphere winter.

"The overall view is that whilst stocks are currently plentiful, a draw due to bad weather will quickly dent these levels," said Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris.

London analysts are forecasting that Wednesday's report from the US Department of Energy will show that stocks of distillates, including crucial heating fuel, will have sunk by 900,000 barrels last week.

Trading volumes on Tuesday were lower than normal owing to this week's looming Thanksgiving public holiday in the United States on Thursday.

Crude futures had sagged on Monday on mild US weather and amid confusion over planned production cuts by OPEC.

Investec analyst Bruce Evers added: "People are focusing strongly on the (US) weather and are still very unsure on how much OPEC will actually cut."

Opec decided last month to cut production by 1.2 million bpd from the start of November in order to support weakening prices, which have shed around 20 dollars since last August.

The cartel was widely expected to agree to further output cuts when it meets again on December 14 in Abuja, Nigeria, but analysts are unsure to what degree the cartel might trim its production.

"I have no doubt that there is going to be a cut in supply," Nigerian Oil Minister and OPEC President Edmond Daukoru told the newspaper This Day in Nigeria on Monday.

Daukoru's comments followed those of Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who suggested over the weekend that OPEC at its ministerial meeting in Abuja, Nigeria on December 14 would approve a further output cut.