Oil prices dropped further today ahead of the release of weekly US fuel data expected to show crude stocks rose last week.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 48 cents to $84.79 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Singapore. The contract fell 75 cents to settle at $85.27 a barrel yesterday.
The US Energy Department's data section is to issue its inventory report later today.
Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires on average predict crude inventories rose 300,000 barrels during the week ended Oct. 19. However, estimates vary widely, ranging from an increase of 2 million barrels to a decrease of 2 million barrels.
Analysts also predict the EIA report will show refinery utilization rose 0.3 percentage point; gasoline supplies, still near record lows, rose 1.1 million barrels; and distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil and diesel, rose 200,000 barrels.
Traders have shrugged off initial concerns about any threat to Iraqi oil flows from a possible Turkish incursion into northern Iraq in search of Kurdish rebels.
Crude oil futures have declined every day since the front-month contract rose to a record above $90 a barrel last week.
December Brent crude declined 27 cents to $82.58 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.
Heating oil futures lost 0.73 cent to $2.2925 a gallon while gasoline prices fell 0.88 cent to $2.1001 a gallon.
Natural gas prices rose 3.2 cents to $6.793 per 1,000 cubic feet.