* Milder U.S. winter sends oil down from 15-month peak
* U.S. distillate stocks to fall for 5th week, crude up
* U.S. heating demand to return to normal level this week
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Oil slid further to below $82
a barrel on Tuesday from 15-month highs a day earlier, as
forecasts showing milder temperatures in the U.S. Northeast
signalled lower fuel consumption in the world's largest heating
oil market.
Icy weather in the United States so far had drawn down U.S.
inventories of distillates, including heating oil. Stocks fell
by 1.7 million barrels last week, a Reuters survey showed,
their fifth-straight weekly drop.
U.S. crude for February delivery <CLc1> fell 68 cents to
$81.84 a barrel at 0347 GMT, after hitting $83.95 on Monday,
the highest intraday level since Oct. 2008.
London Brent crude <LCOc1> fell 57 cents to $80.40 a
barrel.
"The market got a little bit ahead of itself after it broke
$82 a barrel quite easily," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager
with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp.
"With the February contract going off the board next week,
we will soon be looking ahead to the end of the winter.
Refineries should be going back into maintenance soon in
preparation for the gasoline season."
U.S. Northeast temperatures were expected to average below
normal through Wednesday, then average near to above normal
through Friday, with the six- to 10-day forecast for near to
above normal, according to DTN Meteorlogix. []
Along with this, U.S. heating oil demand was forecast to be
normal this week, after surging to 12 percent above normal last
week, the National Weather Service said. []
Refiners are also limiting their intake of crude, aiming to
reduce a glut in oil products that has prevailed for more than
a year despite the recent freeze.
The Reuters poll found that crude oil inventories rose 1.0
million barrels for their second consecutive week of gains.
U.S. gasoline supplies also probably climbed 900,000 barrels,
ahead of data from industry group American Petroleum Institute
(API) at 2130 GMT on Tuesday.
Data from the U.S. government's Energy Information
Administration (EIA) will be released on Wednesday.
U.S. and global oil demand will increase in 2010 and 2011,
but the growth rate in petroleum consumption will not be as
strong as in years past, according to advance details provided
to Reuters on a U.S. government monthly energy supply and
demand forecast. []
The EIA expects the U.S. economy to grow about 2 percent
this year and nearly 2.7 percent next year, leading to higher
demand for oil.
Some support came from tensions in Nigeria's main
oil-producing region, which have removed supplies from the
market.
Chevron <CVX.N> said on Saturday it had been forced to shut
down 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude production in
Nigeria, a day after security sources said gunmen had attacked
a pipeline operated by the U.S. firm. []
"The situation in Nigeria has not improved that much and it
is a matter of time before it becomes a problem again," Nunan
said.
"We have had a year of reprieve from these geopolitical
issues because the collapse in demand had created a cushion of
supplies, but now that the economy looks like it will stabilise
and return to growth this year, geopolitics is back in the
market."
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, will keep crude
supply to major Asian, European and U.S. buyers largely steady
in February, as the kingdom sticks to OPEC supply cuts,
industry sources said. []
(Editing by Ramthan Hussain)
