Light, sweet crude for January delivery gained 64 cents to $63.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

January Brent crude at London's ICE Futures exchange rose 93 cents to $63.50 a barrel following a report that the loading program for January was 4.3 million barrels compared to 8.3 million barrels in December.

Prices were also supported by uncertainty ahead of a meeting next week of oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Some officials have been pressing in recent days for a cut in output on top of a production cut of 1.2 million barrels a day, approved in October.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S., Prince Turki al-Faisal, said current crude oil prices were "acceptable and imminently fair."

The ambassador said oil prices are relatively cheap, noting that if adjusted for inflation, prices would be near $150 a barrel now. He said a price of around $60 a barrel is fair for producer and consumer countries. Higher prices would concern the kingdom, as they impact poorer countries more than rich countries, he said.