Oil prices rose more than $1 US a barrel Friday as traders bought up contracts after a plunge in the previous session sent crude to its lowest price in more than a year and a half.

Light sweet crude for February delivery gained $1.11 to close at $52.99 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract had fallen $2.14 to settle at $51.88 US a barrel on Thursday after touching a low of $51.80 US a barrel, a level not seen since May 2005.

"We can expect some short-covering before the weekend. Therefore, it's possible to rebound to $53 (a barrel)," said Ken Hasegawa, a broker at Himawari CX in Tokyo. In short-covering, traders who had expected an even steeper decline in prices are forced to buy back their positions.

Crude oil has tumbled by 15 per cent so far this year in a huge sell-off that was kicked off by investment funds last year, and then stoked by a historically warm U.S. winter that has left supplies of heating fuel barely touched.

"It's a difficult situation for the crude market when normal consumption patterns are disrupted by hugely abnormal weather. It puts a lot of downward pressure on prices," said Andrew Harrington, an ANZ Global Natural Resources analyst in Sydney.

Harrington added, however, that "underlying demand is fairly solid…. We're still going to see relatively good consumption."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that it expects warmer-than-normal weather in the northern U.S. to continue through March.

This winter has caused a glut in petroleum products; on Wednesday, U.S. government data showed big increases in domestic gasoline and heating oil inventories.

Reports of rising exports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also are weighing on prices. 

Crude oil's steep decline follows an eight-year bull market, which lifted oil from a low of $10.35 US a barrel in 1998 to a record high above $78 US last summer.

Factors that could cause oil to rise again are the possibility of escalating tension in the Middle East, growing global energy demand, violence in Nigeria and production cuts by OPEC.