* Brent, U.S. crude both near 13-month highs
* Texas cold snap shuts down oil wells and refineries
* Middle East supply worries raised due to Yemen conflict
* Norway secures wage deal in dispute at major oil terminal
(Updates prices, adds delay in U.S. inventory data)
By Shadia Nasralla
LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices hovered near 13-month
highs on Tuesday, supported by a cold snap that shut wells in
the biggest U.S. producing state Texas, although gains were
capped by a wage deal in Norway that averted supply disruptions
in Europe.
The global rollout of coronavirus vaccinations, fuelling
expectations of a recovery in the global economy and oil demand,
has also kept prices buoyant.
Keenly watched U.S. oil inventory data from the API industry
association and Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be
released this week on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, each
delayed by a day after U.S. markets were closed on Monday.
Benchmark Brent crude slipped 16 cents, or 0.2%, to
$63.14 a barrel by 1056 GMT, but it remained to its highest
since January 2020 that was reached the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures
gained 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $59.80 a barrel by 1056 GMT, after
touching their highest since early January 2020.
Cold weather in the United States halted operations at Texas
oil wells and refineries on Monday and forced restrictions on
natural gas and crude pipeline operators.
Texas produces about 4.6 million barrels per day of oil and
is home to 31 refineries, the most of any U.S. state and
including some of the country's largest, according to EIA data.
Middle East supply concerns also rose after the Saudi-led
coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said on Monday it
had destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Houthis at
the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter.
But in a move that helped cap prices, Norway's oil industry
employers struck a wage bargain with the Safe labour union on
Tuesday, preventing a strike at the Mongstad crude terminal that
could have forced major offshore oil and gas fields to shut.
(Additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore;
Editing by Edmund Blair)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
