* European, UK data show economies in recession
* OPEC cuts January output sharply - Petrologistics
* U.S. crude inventories jumped 6.1 mln barrels last week
(Recasts, updates prices and market activity)
NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 6 percent on
Friday as mounting evidence that OPEC is complying with the
bulk of its record output cuts countered gloomy economic data
that further dimmed the outlook for global energy demand.
U.S. crude <CLc1> rose $2.58 to $46.25 a barrel by 2:04
p.m. EST (1904 GMT). London Brent <LCOc1> traded $2.35 higher
at $47.74 a barrel.
The gains came after oil consultant Petrologistics
estimated OPEC production would fall by 1.55 million barrels
per day in January as part of the cartel's efforts to meet a
2.2 million bpd reduction agreed in December. []
"I think this represents anticipation that the OPEC
production cuts are really happening after the Petrologistics
estimates on January OPEC production," said Tim Evans, energy
analyst for Citi Futures Perspective.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries are cutting output in reaction to a slide of more
than $100 in oil prices since July as global economic weakness
slams energy demand.
Another cold front coming headed for the Midwest and
Northeast may have contributed to higher crude prices, dealers
said.
Heating oil, which is the primary heating fuel of the
Northeast, was the percentage leader on Friday, with February
front month heating oil futures up 6.7 percent.
"It looked like the strength of heating oil was what was
carrying us higher, I presume because of the cold weather
coming into the northern plains and into the East Coast this
weekend," Tom Knight, a trader at Truman Arnold in Texarkana,
Texas.
DIM ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
British data released on Friday confirmed the UK economy
had gone into recession for the first time since 1991, while
Spanish unemployment surged to a nine-year high. []
The news added to the crush of bleak economic data coming
out of the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.
"We continue to believe that weak economic growth is likely
to have a much greater impact on oil demand than is currently
factored into consensus supply and demand forecasts," Deutsche
Bank analyst Adam Sieminski said in a research note.
"We expect OPEC will have to agree to make one more quota
cut at their March meeting, chasing the moving target of oil
demand," Sieminski added.
U.S. government data released on Thursday showed crude and
fuel inventories continued to rise sharply as the recession
stemming from the soured U.S. housing market erodes demand.
But prices staged a late rebound Thursday afternoon in
anticipation of a multibillion-dollar economic stimulus package
from the new Obama administration.
(Reporting by Richard Valdmanis, Rebekah Kebede and Gene Ramos
in New York, Maryelle Demongeot in Singapore and Alex Lawler in
London; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
