Oil firm above $73 as Iran-Iraq tensions ease

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil held firm above $73 a barrel on Monday after a 1 percent rise in the previous session as Iranian troops partly withdrew from a disputed oil area in Iraq, reducing tensions between two major crude exporters.

The more actively traded February contract rose toward $75 a barrel, helped by frigid weather in the U.S. Northeast and Europe, but gains were limited during a holiday-shortened week and ahead of Tuesday's gathering of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Crude for January delivery, which expires later in the day, rose 43 cents to $73.79 a barrel by 1417 GMT (9:17 a.m. EST), after settling up 73 cents on Friday. The February contract was at $74.95.

London Brent crude was up 54 cents at $74.29.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Sunday a group of Iranian troops, who had taken over an oil well in a remote region along the Iran-Iraq border last week, were no longer in control of the well, which Iraq considers part of its Fakka oil field.

"Weather and geopolitics are supporting oil even in the face of overwhelming supply and a glut of spare production capacity,"