Oil prices dipped slightly ahead of the weekly snapshot of US energy stocks where rises in crude and gasoline are expected but falls were also tempered by the possibility of a cold-snap hitting the US northeast. At 1.04 pm, December-dated Brent futures contracts were down 22 cents at 60.02 usd a barrel, while US benchmark December-dated contracts were down 23 cents at 62.23 usd. Oil prices closed more than 2 usd higher yesterday after traders got a jolt from forecasts calling for snow and icy conditions hitting parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But with no further developments today, market players are holding their positions until the release of the weekly inventory data from the US Department of Energy. "The market is expected to hold fairly steady until the US inventory data released later today," said Sucden analyst, Sam Tilley. Market expectations are for a 2.3 mln barrel rise in US crude stockpiles for the week ending Oct 21, and a 1.4 mln barrel gain in gasoline (petrol) reserves. Traders will also pay particular attention to distillates stocks - forecast to fall by 900,000 barrels - as concerns persist over supply ahead of the northern hemisphere winter season. A cold weather snap could accelerate demand for crucial heating oil, even though US heating oil stocks are at present slightly higher than a year ago. Calyon analyst Mike Wittner said traders will also focus on the DoE's headline number for product demand over the last 4-weeks. "I would expect demand to again show a year-on-year decline and the markets will take that as bearish. I wouldn't be surprised to see the market come off a little bit," he said. Oil prices dipped slightly ahead of the weekly snapshot of US energy stocks where rises in crude and gasoline are expected but falls were also tempered by the possibility of a cold-snap hitting the US northeast. At 1.04 pm, December-dated Brent futures contracts were down 22 cents at 60.02 usd a barrel, while US benchmark December-dated contracts were down 23 cents at 62.23 usd. Oil prices closed more than 2 usd higher yesterday after traders got a jolt from forecasts calling for snow and icy conditions hitting parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. But with no further developments today, market players are holding their positions until the release of the weekly inventory data from the US Department of Energy. "The market is expected to hold fairly steady until the US inventory data released later today," said Sucden analyst, Sam Tilley. Market expectations are for a 2.3 mln barrel rise in US crude stockpiles for the week ending Oct 21, and a 1.4 mln barrel gain in gasoline (petrol) reserves. Traders will also pay particular attention to distillates stocks - forecast to fall by 900,000 barrels - as concerns persist over supply ahead of the northern hemisphere winter season. A cold weather snap could accelerate demand for crucial heating oil, even though US heating oil stocks are at present slightly higher than a year ago. Calyon analyst Mike Wittner said traders will also focus on the DoE's headline number for product demand over the last 4-weeks. "I would expect demand to again show a year-on-year decline and the markets will take that as bearish. I wouldn't be surprised to see the market come off a little bit," he said.