Oil prices were steady on Thursday after shedding gains made earlier in the week following a massive build in crude stocks in the United States. US crude inched up 6 cents to $59.30 a barrel at 0648 GMT in thin electronic trade, as many dealers were away for the US Thanksgiving holiday. London Brent crude was 19 cents higher at $59.68 a barrel.
Prices topped $60 this week after a halt in crude shipments at an Alaskan port, but were dragged down 93 cents on Wednesday by a surprise 5.1 million barrel rise in US crude oil inventories.
Forecasts by analysts earlier in the week had put the inventory build at just 600,000 barrels. "It was a shock announcement, and that really pushed the market down. The drawdown in distillate stocks was nothing too major," said Gerard Burg, a resource analyst at the National Australia Bank. The US government's Energy Information Administration said distillate inventories fell by 1.2 million barrels.
But the draw was concentrated in diesel and not in heating oil, leaving stocks still above last year's levels ahead of peak winter demand.
Analysts continue to eye further Opec production cuts, in addition to the 1.2 million barrel per day cut from November made by the producers' group in an effort to stem falling prices.
"The sustainable floor is supported by the potential for further Opec cuts," Burg said. Kuwait's oil minister said on Wednesday that the cartel would cut its oil production again in December if prices continue to deteriorate.
Prices have slid 24 percent since a record high over $78 a barrel in mid-July, as bulging fuel stocks in consumer countries and concerns over slower economic growth spur investor selling, with the market mostly in a $58-$62 range for more than a month.
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