LONDON, Nov 28: Oil prices dropped heavily in New York on Monday amid much smaller losses in London, as traders kept a close eye on weather conditions in the northern hemisphere. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for January delivery fell 30 cents to $54.71 per barrel in electronic dealing.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, dived $1.56 to $57.15 per barrel compared to Wednesday’s closing price.

New York’s main contract fell heavily owing to traders in the United States setting out to mirror losses for Brent late last week.

“The US NYMEX light crude futures were over a dollar lower, catching up with London after the two day Thanksgiving holiday,” analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm said.

Oil prices fell last week, with markets deeming there to be adequate supplies of heating fuel during the northern hemisphere winter despite the onset of freezing weather in the region.

“Unusually cold winter weather struck parts of northern Europe over the weekend, leading to power failures, cancelled flights and traffic chaos on icy highways,” Sucden noted on Monday.

They added that temperatures in the US northeast region, a major consumer of heating fuel, were expected to warm in the coming days, easing demand for energy.

“The weather forecast has turned a little milder again and that means that demand for heating oil will be lower,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based investment strategist with CFC Seymour Securities.—AFP