UPDATE 10-Oil jumps $1/bbl as Texas freeze prompts U.S. output drop

* Texas deep freeze shuts down oil wells and refineries
* U.S. crude stocks drop more than expected -API
* OPEC+ likely to ease supply curbs after April, sources say
* Brent, WTI at their highest levels since January 2020

(Adds U.S. industry group crude oil stocks data)
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices gained more than $1
a barrel on Wednesday, as frigid Texas temperatures shut
production across the largest U.S. crude producing state, with
the unusually cold weather expected to hamper output for days or
even weeks.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled at $64.34 a barrel, gaining 99
cents, or 1.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 settled at $61.14 a barrel, rising $1.09, or 1.8%. Both
benchmarks were at their highest levels since January last year.
Oil has been supported by OPEC+ supply curbs, Saudi Arabia's
additional cuts and hopes of a demand rebound due to COVID-19
vaccinations.
Historic cold weather since the weekend in Texas, which
supplies the bulk of U.S. crude and is part of the main U.S.
refining hub, has propelled prices even higher.
"This has just sent us to the next level," said Bob Yawger,
director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. "Crude oil WTI
will probably max out somewhere pretty close to $65.65," Yawger
said.
The U.S. deep freeze has shut an estimated 1 million barrels
a day of production and is expected to disrupt production for
several days if not weeks, industry experts said, as wellheads
have frozen over and pipelines have shut.
At least a fifth of U.S. refining output has been knocked
offline, which is hampering demand for crude at the same time
production is down, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital
in New York.
"There's a bit of a push-pull happening because even though
the supplies are shut in, the refiners are also down so there's
not much of a call for it," Kilduff said.
Unlike the hurricanes that can violently strike U.S. Gulf
Coast oil operations, Kilduff said he doesn't expect
infrastructure damage from the freezing temperatures.
"This will all thaw out and things should ramp up rather
quickly," he said.
In a statement that helped ease fears that OPEC and allied
oil producers would announce plans to raise output after meeting
next month, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin
Salman said it was too early to declare victory against the
COVID-19 virus and oil producers must remain "extremely
cautious."
The stronger price environment has put more attention on
OPEC+, which groups OPEC, Russia and allied producers. It meets
to set policy on March 4.
OPEC+ sources told Reuters that the group's producers are
likely to ease curbs on supply after April given a recovery in
prices. U.S. crude oil stocks fell by 5.8 million barrels in the
week to Feb. 12 to about 468 million barrels, compared with
analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.4
million barrels, American Petroleum Institute data showed.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) oil inventory
data will be released Thursday respectively, delayed a day after
a holiday on Monday.


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OPEC+ base case scenario https://tmsnrt.rs/3tTOw4o
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