LONDON, Nov 9: World oil prices fell further on Wednesday before data expected to show a rise in US crude inventories, analysts said. The Department of Energy (DoE) would reveal stockpile rises owing to mild weather in the United States’ northeast region and a recovery for US energy operations after recent hurricanes, they added.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, eased eight cents to $59.63 per barrel in electronic dealing.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for December delivery fell 29 cents to $57.52 per barrel.

“In today’s weekly US oil statistics we expect to see continued evidence of improvement,” Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish said.

Analysts’ consensus forecast was for a 1.4 million-barrel gain for crude stocks during the week ending November 4. Gasoline inventories were expected to have risen by one million barrels and distillates — which include heating fuel — by 600,000 barrels.

“Demand for heating oil is expected to be about 42 per cent below normal this week in the US as temperatures are expected to remain mild in the US northeast,” Sucden analyst Sam Tilley said on Wednesday.—AFP