SINGAPORE, Nov 1 (Reuters): Oil prices held below $60 today as mild temperatures in the US Northeast and Japan limited demand for heating fuel. US crude edged 2 cents lower to $59.74 a barrel, after hitting a three- month low Monday and ending $1.46 down. London Brent crude was 3 cents lower at $58.07 a barrel. Demand for heating oil in the United States is expected to be about 30 per cent below normal this week as temperatures in the US Northeast warm up after an early chill, according to the US National Weather Service. A slow start to winter in the US Northeast -- the world's biggest heating oil market -- would compound worries that historically high energy costs are cutting into demand. The most recent figures from the US Energy Information Administration show fuel demand in the world's largest energy consumer lagging more than 2 per cent below a year ago. Further direction on fuel inventories and demand will come from US government stock data Wednesday, forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll to show a build of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in crude stocks last week but a 0.8 million barrel fall in distillates, including heating oil. In Japan, the world's third largest oil consumer, where kerosene buying can soar for winter heating, the country's fourth biggest refiner, Cosmo Oil, revised down its planned November production due to weaker kerosene and industrial demand. Japanese kerosene stocks are at a two-year high. Analysts still worry that a freezing winter in the northern hemisphere would come at a difficult time for the US oil industry, with Gulf of Mexico refiners and producers struggling to restore operations after being battered by hurricanes. Onshore, four refineries remained completely shut after the hurricanes, amounting to just over 1 million bpd of processing or 6 per cent of US capacity.
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