Oil prices gained in New York but fell in London after OPEC kept its global demand estimate steady but increased its estimate of the supplies added to the market from non-cartel producers. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in April, added 48 cents on Monday's price to end at $US92.54 a barrel. But in London, Brent North Sea crude for April lost 57 cents to $US109.65 a barrel. An uncertain picture on global demand growth continued to overhang the market, analysts said, especially for major energy consumers China and the United States. OPEC's monthly market report held its 2013 global crude demand forecast unchanged at 89.7 million barrels per day, up 0.8 million from 2012. US demand was expected to be flat after two years of decline and Japanese consumption roughly at the same level as well. But the cartel, which accounts for around 35 per cent of world supply, raised its expectation of production growth by non-OPEC suppliers in 2013 by 11 percent to 1.0 million barrels a day, with the growth mainly coming from North America. That suggested more downward pressure on all prices as exporters fight for market share. The report put OPEC production at 30.3 million barrels a day in February. Gold futures rose as weaker economic data from the UK and a slight retreat in US equities saw some investors return to the perceived safety of the precious metal. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, settled up $US13.70, or 0.9 per cent, at $US1,591.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract touched an intraday high of $US1,597.60 a troy ounce. Gold's gains came as weaker-than-expected UK industrial production data reiterated that world economies continue to need support from loose monetary policies. Low interest rates and a cash-flush financial system tend to benefit gold prices, as investors looking to preserve wealth stock up on hard assets such as gold. As gold prices moved higher, they came in sight of the psychologically important $US1,600 level and caught the attention of many investors who had left the market since October. Gold also benefited from weakness in equity markets, which had been on a record-breaking runup that drew some investors away from gold in recent weeks. Gold is widely considered a safe haven, and demand for it tends to weaken when riskier assets like equities are rallying. Base metals closed higher on the London Metal Exchange, reversing early losses as investors rushed to cover short positions in response to rising prices at the open of US trade. At the PM kerb close, LME three-month copper was up 0.9 per cent at $US7,830 a metric ton. The red metal earlier had slumped as low as $US7,722/ton, weighed down by news of strong growth in Chinese copper production in January and February. Short-covering - where investors close out short positions held in an asset, often as a result of an unexpected rise in prices - played a large part in the move higher in metal prices Tuesday, said traders and analysts.