NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile ended lower Friday, dragged down by oversupply worries and forecasts of milder weather ahead, traders said.
"The crude market still appears rangebound, with very little to support it. There's not much (fundamental) news out there," said Victor Yu, a vice president at Refco Energy Group in New York.
NYMEX front month crude, which expires on Monday, settled at $11.76 a barrel, down 28 cents, after last trading at $11.73 a barrel, also the day's low. It encountered resistance at $12.05, the day's high, and came off on a barrage of selling.
The April contract finished at $11.90, off 27 cents, after last trading at $11.88, also its session low. The contract traded as high as $12.19.
Heating oil futures, already battered by high inventories amid continuing weak demand due to the third mild winter in a row, extended their day's losses.
Front month heating oil ended at 30.34 cents a gallon, down 0.64 cent after last trading at 30.30 cents. It traded between 30.30/31.31.15. On Tuesday, bears sent the front month heating oil slipping to an intraday low of 29.20 cents a gallon, a record.
Front month gasoline futures ended down, but its fall was softened by a stockdraw in weekly data and talk of possible additional refinery cutbacks. The latter remained unsubstantiated as the week ended.
March gasoline setled at 34.09 cents a gallon, off 0.33 cent. It last traded at 34.00 cents a gallon, near the day's low at 33.95 cents. The contract traded as high as 34.90 cents.
In London, April Brent crude on the International Petroleum Exchange last traded at $10.40 a barrel, down 21 cents.
Forecasts show below normal temperatures in the Midwest and East until early next week, but milder weather is expected to follow.
Temperatures in the Northeast, the main heating oil consuming region, are expected to be about four to eight degrees Fahrenheit below normal Sunday through Tuesday, according to private forecaster Weather Services Corp.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service predicted more above-normal temperatures in eastern U.S. in March.
Conflicting weekly industry and government data kept the market wobbly early Thursday.
Late Wednesday, API reported a build in crude oil stocks of 2.56 million barrels for the week ending Feb. 12. It also reported a build in distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, of 378,000 barrels and a draw in gasoline stocks of 1.1 million barrels.
Overnight, crude fell on the bearish API data. But on Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of Energy contradicted the API, saying there was a draw of 1.7 million barrels.
The DOE "confirmed" the API data on distillates, as it reported that inventories of the products rose 400,000 barrels. The DOE data added bullishness to gasoline as it reported a bigger draw of 2.2 million barrels.
Traders leaned on the DOE data, supporting crude's gradual rise by midmorning Thursday. As shortcovering gained momentum, market rumors about a possible shutdown of Tosco Corp. refineries in the East Coast hit the market, pushing the market higher.
There was no confirmation of any such move from Tosco in afterhours trade, spurring a selloff overnight and in the day trade on Friday.
As the week ended, NYMEX traders said they were waiting for signals from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on any positive steps the group might take to support flagging oil prices.
OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet in Vienna on March 23, but up to know its members are in disarray on how to stem the slide in oil prices.
Late Thursday, a Mexican official said his country, which is not an OPEC member, was willing to meet OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to review possible further cuts before the March meeting. Traders received the news cooly.
Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela led last year's negotiations that led to historic output-cut pledges among OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
The producers agreed to cut output by 3.1 million barrels, of which OPEC shouldered 2.6 million barrels. But shoddy compliance by some producers has kept OPEC production up. And analysts say oil producers need to cut an additional one million barrels per day (bpd) to rebalance the market.
Venezuela has signalled it would complete its pledge of a 525,000 bpd cut by March 1, but another standing issue is the base from which Iran, also a major OPEC member, should make its output cut.
"Until these issues are resolved, OPEC's credibility will be in doubt," said Refco's Yu.
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