SINGAPORE, REUTERS, JAN 22, 2016 – Oil prices rose for a second session on Friday, moving further away from 12-year lows plumbed earlier this week, as cold U.S. and European weather as well as firmer financial markets gave traders reason to cash in on record short positions.
While crude futures on both sides of the Atlantic were poised for their first weekly gain this year, analysts cautioned that the bounce in prices  was unsustainable given soaring inventories amid persistent overproduction.
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 85 cents at $30.38 per barrel at 0532 GMT, almost $4 away from a 12-year low of $26.19 and headed for a more than 3 percent weekly rise.
Brent LCOc1 was up 98 cents at $30.23 per barrel, off its low of $27.10 and set for a more than 4 percent weekly gain.
Oil prices drew support from freezing weather conditions and snowstorms that have gripped the U.S. East Coast and parts of continental Europe, lifting demand for heating oil.
However, meteorological data in Reuters shows that the current cold snaps will likely to be short-lived.
The cold weather in North America and Europe follows an extremely mild start to winter in large parts of the northern hemisphere, which had led to weaker-than-usual demand for oil and exacerbated a plunge in prices.
Analysts said the fundamental reason for low oil prices remained unchanged, with producers around the world pumping over 1 million barrels of crude every day beyond demand.