* U.S. mid-Atlantic hit by blizzard
* Iran ratchets up atom work despite sanctions threat
* G7 reassures on Greece, talks tough on banks
(Updates prices)
By Fayen Wong
PERTH, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices reversed some of last
week's losses on Monday and rose from a seven-week low to near
$72 a barrel, spurred by bargain-hunting and hopes for a cold
front in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region to boost fuel demand.
But mixed signals from the U.S. labour market and growing
anxiety over fiscal problems in Europe continued to cast a pall
over sentiment and limited oil's gains.
U.S. crude for March delivery <CLc1> rose 43 cents to
$71.62 a barrel by 0543 GMT. The contract settled down $1.95 at
a seven-week low of $71.19 per barrel on Friday, after earlier
hitting a session low of $69.50.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 50 cents to $70.08.
"Oil prices are now at the low-$70s level and that
typically attracts bargain hunters," said Ben Westmore, a
commodities analyst at National Australia Bank.
"The cold weather in the United States is also offering
some support, although people may be less hopeful about a
weather-related fuel demand spike after having seen bearish
U.S. crude inventory reports the past few weeks."
A blizzard dumped 2 ft (0.5m) of snow across much of the
U.S. mid-Atlantic on Saturday, threatening record snowfall in a
region heavily dependent on home heating oil and natural gas
supplies, and left tens of thousands without power.
[]
Analysts said heightened tensions between Iran and western
nations also lent some support to oil prices, which had fallen
for four consecutive weeks.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave instructions on
Sunday for the production of higher-grade nuclear reactor fuel,
prompting the United States and Germany to threaten carefully
targeted new sanctions against Tehran. []
Crude prices fell 2.7 percent on Friday as a tepid
employment report in the United States, the world's top energy
consumer, again heightened worries of a sluggish recovery in
fuel demand.
Oil prices have lost nearly 10 percent this year, dragged
down by data showing bulging fuel stockpiles in the U.S.
despite cold weather, concerns about slower Asian demand if
China further tightens its monetary policy, and more recently
jitters about Europe's financial system.
Despite a better-than-expected finish on Wall Street, most
Asian stocks fell on Monday, as anxiety over fiscal problems in
Europe lingered despite the assurances European finance
ministers gave to their Group of Seven counterparts this
weekend that the euro zone's debt crisis is under control.
[] []
Analysts said oil prices are likely to remain volatile this
week, as movements in the U.S. dollar and developments on
Europe's fiscal problems remain as the key focal points.
U.S. stocks face more turbulence that could send indexes
spiraling through key levels this week as doubts about the
global recovery's pace persist and fears linger over Europe's
sovereign debt woes. []
Separately, money managers cut their net long crude oil
futures position on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the
week through Feb. 2, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
said on Friday. []
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
