Oil prices edged down on Wednesday as Venezuela said oil operations were unaffected by violent anti-government protests, but dealers said the market could rebound strongly on fresh US stocks data.
US light crude shed 14 cents to $36.52 a barrel, extending a 20-cent drop in New York after Opec's admission of overproduction gave prices a reprieve from year-high levels of just under $37 a barrel on Tuesday.
A Reuters survey of 10 analysts forecast sustained tightness in US stocks of crude oil, gasoline and distillates when the government Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its weekly inventories report later on Wednesday.
This was mainly due to the temporary closure of the Mississippi River, which disrupted crude oil supplies to some US Gulf Coast refineries, industry sources said.
"If the stats are bullish, we could blow through these levels and see a $1 rise in a hurry," a New York-based broker said.
The survey predicted an average drop of 1.5 million barrels in crude stocks for the week ending February 27, a draw of 1.1 million barrels for gasoline and a 1.6-million-barrel decline for distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel.
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