Oil eased for the first time this week todaybut remained near a two-month high above $62 after a surprise drawdown in US winter fuel stocks and signs of solid economic growth there.
US light crude was 16 cents lower at $62.30 a barrel earlier, slipping back after rising above $65.50 yesterday to its highest since October 2nd, breaking free of the $58-$62 rut that has defined prices for two months. Brent crude was down 15 cents at $62.92 a barrel.
US inventories of crude oil and refined products fell last week as imports eased and demand was robust, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.
Distillate stocks, including home heating oil, fell by one million barrels last week to 132.8 million barrels, countering forecasts of a 400,000-barrel increase.
Petrol stock levels dropped by 600,000 barrels to 201.1 million barrels, a level the EIA said was at the low end of the average range for this time of year.
Crude oil stocks dropped 300,000 barrels to 340.8 million barrels. Healthy demand for distillates came despite relatively warmer temperatures in the US northeast, the country's top heating oil consuming region.