SINGAPORE -- Oil prices were steady Wednesday ahead of the release of a weekly U.S. petroleum supply snapshot expected to show higher inventories in gasoline and heating oil.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose just 2 cents to $61.04 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract settled 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, lower at $61.02 a barrel on Tuesday.

The Brent crude contract for January, which was to expire at the close of trading Thursday, slipped 14 cents to $61.38 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Heating oil edged up marginally to $1.7225 a gallon while unleaded gasoline rose 0.25 cent to $1.5975 a gallon. Natural gas gained 13 cents to $7.56 per 1,000 cubic feet.

U.S. crude oil stocks are expected to fall by 1.3 million barrels in data due Wednesday from the Department of Energy, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts.

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Gasoline inventories are seen increasing by about 900,000 barrels, according to the analysts' average, while inventories of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, are forecast to rise by about 300,000 barrels.

The market was also awaiting a decision by OPEC this week on whether to make further production cuts to shore up prices. Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began gathering in Abuja, Nigeria, and continued to send mixed messages about their intent.

The disagreement over whether further reductions in output were needed reflected uncertainty over demand over the next four months, worries that inventories are too high and chafing over the shrinking U.S. dollar that makes each barrel of crude worth less than it was a year ago.

OPEC already agreed in October to cut crude output by 1.2 million barrels a day - more than 4 percent of its previous production - although the actual reduction is estimated at no more than two-thirds of that maximum.

In Tokyo, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Tuesday he hopes OPEC ministers will not decide to cut crude oil output levels further. He said the United States has encouraged oil producers "to make sure the market is very well supplied."

Editor's note:
Warning: Oil Prices Will Collapse, Profit from It!