UPDATE 7-Oil hits 13-month highs as market rebalances

* Prices rally as producers rein in supply
* Brent and WTI hit highest levels since January 2020
* U.S. stimulus hopes and tighter oil supplies support rally
* Possible strike could hit Norway's crude production

(Updates prices, notes cold weather affecting activity in
Texas)
By Noah Browning
LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices soared to their
highest in about 13 months on Monday as vaccine rollouts
promised to revive demand and producers kept supply reined in.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 70 cents, or 1.1%, at $63.13 a
barrel at 12:15 p.m. EST (1715 GMT) after hitting a session peak
of $63.76, its highest since Jan. 22 last year.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
gained 63 cents, or 1.1%, at $60.10 after touching $60.95, the
highest since Jan. 8 last year.
Oil prices gained about 5% last week.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day
holiday.
Prices have rallied over recent weeks on tightening
supplies, largely due to production cuts from the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers
in the wider OPEC+ group of producers.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the
global oil market is on a recovery path and prices this year
could average $45-$60 a barrel.
"We've seen low volatility in the past few months. This
means the market is balanced and the prices we are seeing today
are in line with the market situation," Novak was quoted as
saying. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden has pushed for the first
major legislative undertaking of his term, turning to a
bipartisan group of local officials on Friday for help on his
$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. "The long-awaited $1.9 trillion package has not been passed.
As the latest U.S. job data hints at a struggling labor market
the relief package cannot come soon enough for some," said Tamas
Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
"The stimulus will likely be approved in some shape or
form," he added.
In a move that could tighten supply further, workers will
decide on Monday whether to strike this week at Norway's largest
oil loading terminal. A strike could disrupt production at
fields responsible for a third of the country's crude output.
U.S. production could be affected this week as well by
unusually cold weather in Texas and Oklahoma. Temperatures in
Midland, Texas, the heart of the U.S. Permian Basin, the
country's largest shale region, dropped into single digits
Fahrenheit.
Millions of people were without power and some refineries
curtailed processing as well due to the cold, which ranged from
21 to minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 6 to minus 22 Celsius).