LONDON (AFP) -- Oil prices have risen as OPEC's planned February production cut took effect and the market looked to cold winter weather in the United States.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for March delivery added 43 cents to 57.15 dollars per barrel in electronic trading on Friday.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained 40 cents to 57.70 dollars per barrel in electronic deals before the official opening of the market.

"Crude futures were higher on Friday, trading firmly above 57 dollars per barrel, underpinned by colder weather in the U.S. this week and shrinking distillate inventories," said Sucden analyst Michael Davies. "In addition, crude futures remain well supported, following latest output cuts by OPEC that took effect Thursday."

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, meeting in Nigeria in December, had decided to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from February 1, following a cut of 1.2 million bpd in November.

Crude prices had dived below 50 dollars a barrel on January 18 in New York, hitting their lowest levels since May 2005 owing to a sharp increase in U.S. crude stocks and a relatively mild winter across the northern hemisphere.

But with the advent of colder temperatures in recent weeks, the market has since gradually recovered.

"Prices have now recovered more than 70 percent of the losses incurred since the start of the year, and there is still potential for further upside in our view," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish. "The flow of oil data was overall supportive this week, with the latest set of U.S. weekly oil statistics indicating that U.S. oil demand has rebounded strongly in January from a weak December."

Heating fuel demand has been rising as freezing cold weather continues to grip the northeast United States, the biggest consumer of heating oil in the world, raising concerns this could deplete stockpiles.

The U.S. Department of Energy said U.S. distillates stocks -- including diesel and heating oil -- fell by a surprisingly large 2.6 million barrels in the week to January 26. Market expectations had been for a drop of 2.1 million.

U.S. crude oil reserves meanwhile climbed by 2.7 million barrels last week, compared with forecasts of an increase of 1.5 million barrels.