Oil prices eased back below $59 a barrel as investors focused on U.S. fuel data due later on Wednesday that is expected to show a rise in gasoline stocks in the world's top consumer, Reuters reports.
With only a few weeks of the northern hemisphere winter remaining, attention is beginning to shift from heating oil to gasoline, which is the main market driver during the U.S. summer.
U.S. crude was 25 cents lower at $58.81 a barrel by 1058 GMT, shedding part of Tuesday's $1.25 gains after the International Energy Agency raised its 2007 demand forecast.
London Brent crude was down 38 cents at $58.40.
"The (U.S.) winter won't be around much longer and the market is already looking at gasoline," said Tony Nunan, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp.'s risk management unit in Tokyo.
"Inventories in the United States have been building over the past weeks, and in the short term it will have a bearish impact on the market."
A Reuters survey of analysts sees gasoline inventories climbing by 1.9 million barrels. Stock levels have risen unabated since October and are two percent above the level this time last year.
Analysts at MAN Energy said heating oil was not completely out of the equation, although they noted warmer weather was forecast in the United States for the coming week.