Crude falls on speculation US fuel supplies sufficient

Singapore: Crude oil fell from a one-week high in New York on speculation US fuel supplies are sufficient to meet late winter heating demand.

Crude oil for March delivery fell as much as 52 cents to 58.87 dollar a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at 58.89 US dollar at in Singapore.

Brent oil for April settlement was at $ 58.72 a barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.4 per cent, on the London-based ICE Futures exchange.

The March contract in New York rose $1.40 dollar, or 2.4 per cent to 59.39 dollar a barrel on February 16, the highest close in a week.

Temperatures in much of the US Northeast, the nation's largest heating oil consuming region, may be above average in the week ending March 4, the National Weather Service said.

Prices jumped on February 16 after a fire shut Valero Energy Corp's McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas, and on signs militants in Nigeria may be planning to widen strikes against oil plants.

"The year's winter demand season for heating oil is almost over, after warmer-than-usual weather capped the fuel demand in the Northern Hemisphere," said a manager of the international division at commodity futures broker in Tokyo.

Home heating demand in the Northeast will be 8.4 per cent above normal in the week ending February 23, according to a February 16 forecast from Weather Derivatives of Belton, Missouri. In New York, home heating demand will be 10 per cent above normal, according to Weather Derivatives.