Oil futures were lower in pre-market deals amid easing temperatures in the United States and hints from OPEC that there will be no cut in production before the next meeting in March, dealers said.
Brent crude futures for March delivery were down 23 cents at $43.66 a barrel, in pre-market deals.
US benchmark March-dated contracts were up 32 cents at $46.19 a barrel, also in pre-market deals.
Mild weather in the US north east have caused heating oil prices to drop, and the trend downward looks set to continue, with forecasters predicting above-normal temperatures for the next week to 10 days.
Prices are also weaker on comments from the OPEC president over the weekend that there will not be a cut before the next meeting on March 16th.
Fears that the cartel would cut production at a teleconference scheduled in five weeks' time have kept prices underpinned since the last OPEC meeting on January 30th.
The weekend comments from OPEC appear to be a change in policy, as OPEC had previously been set on defending US crude oil prices at close to the $40 mark.
Prices also began slipping last week as the market started to look towards the summer season for gasoline demand.
The summer gasoline supply picture looks "significantly healthier" than it did heading into the second quarter a year ago, when a spike in gasoline futures propelled strong gains on crude.