LONDON, Nov 2: World oil prices eased on Wednesday, after a brief blip above $60 per barrel in New York, as US crude stockpiles data for last week broadly tallied with market expectations.

Oil futures continued their downward trend as the market also warmed to news of unusually mild weather conditions for this time of year in the United States, the world’s biggest energy consumer, and across Europe.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, fell 25 cents to $59.60 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for December delivery lost 27 cents to $58.10 per barrel in electronic deals.

According to the US Department of Energy, crude stocks rose 2.7m barrels in the week to Oct 28, well above the normal range for this time of year, above forecasts of a 2.2-million-barrel build.

Gasoline, or petrol, reserves climbed by 1.0 million barrels, overshooting market expectations of a 600,000-barrel gain.

And stockpiles of distillates, including heating oil and diesel, fell by just 200,000 barrels, compared with analysts’ predictions of a drop of 800,000 barrels.

“The statistics were neutral,” noted Societe Generale analyst Deborah White.

“The crude stock build was pretty much in line with expectations. The market got the direction right for gasoline and distillate, and the quantities were only slightly different then expected.” —AFP