UPDATE 7-Oil settles near 13-month highs; Texas deep freeze supports

* Texas cold deep freeze shut down oil wells and refineries
* Middle East supply worries raised by Yemen conflict
* OPEC+ likely to ease curbs on supply after April -sources

(Updates with settlement prices)
By Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled near
13-month highs on Tuesday, supported by a deep freeze in the
U.S. South that shut wells and oil refineries in Texas.
Prices have been buoyant for months, with major oil
producing countries restricting supply and vaccines rolling out
to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
settled up 1% to $60.05, after touching their highest since
early January 2020. Brent LCOc1 settled up 5 cents, or 0.1%,
to $63.35 a barrel, near the 13-month peak reached the previous
session.
"Cold temperatures have added supply side support amidst
numerous well freeze-offs and several refinery disruptions as
some facilities have seen forced shutdowns due to power
restriction," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and
Associates in Galena, Illinois.
Rystad Energy analysts estimated that between 500,000 and
1.2 million barrels of crude oil production in the United States
will be shut due to the cold. About 3 million bpd of refining
has been closed, with some of the largest U.S. refiners shutting
processing, including Motiva Enterprises facilities at Port
Arthur, Texas, the country's largest. Middle East supply concerns also rose after the Saudi-led
coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said on Monday that
it had destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Houthis
at the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter. Supply is expected to expand this spring as OPEC+ oil
producers said they are likely to ease output curbs after April
given a recovery in prices. Still, producers remain cautious
about the pandemic. U.S. oil inventory data from the API industry association
and Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released on
Wednesday and Thursday respectively, delayed due to the Monday
U.S. holiday.