Oil prices steadied yesterday after falling three per cent on Wednesday when a surprise increase in US fuel stocks eased worries about meeting peak winter demand.
US light crude futures were up three cents at $44.27 a barrel after falling $1.52 on Wednesday. The oil price has lost 5 per cent this week. The New York Mercantile Exchange is shut today.
London Brent rose 16 cents to $40.80 a barrel.
Although prices are up 35 per cent since the start of the year, they have fallen sharply from the October 25th all-time high of $55.67 a barrel as consumer inventories rose and a mild start to winter capped demand, particularly in the US northeast.
Despite the region's first blast of real cold last week, stockpiles of distillates - which include winter fuel heating oil and diesel - climbed 600,000 barrels to 119.9 million barrels in the week to December 17th, government data showed.
Expectations of a draw were thwarted by refiners cranking out a record 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of distillates, countering the weather-driven demand spike.
Analysts said the figures helped soothe some fears of a shortage this winter. But dealers were cautious due to forecasts for chillier temperatures this weekend and running into the first quarter next year, and on strong US distillate demand growth. - (Reuters)
