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Oil edges down as blizzard hits US

Singapore - Crude prices were slightly down in afternoon Asian trade on Tuesday, but prices were supported by snow storms across parts of North America, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, dropped 4c to $90.96 per barrel and Brent North Sea crude for February was down 11c at $93.74.

The massive blizzard that hit the US east coast on Monday has reached eastern Canada, dumping huge amounts of snow and forcing the cancellation of flights.

"There will probably be more such bad weather (in the US and Canada), and I expect oil prices to stay strong," said John Vautrain, vice president for Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore.

Analysts say the cold spell will likely mean increased demand for heating oil.

"It's not how cold it gets but how long it stays cold," said Jason Feer, vice president and general manager with energy market analysts Argus Media.

"It's turning out to be a fairly long, cold winter and what that means is that people are burning lots of heating oil," he said.

The US is the world's biggest oil consumer and its northeast region is the biggest heating oil market globally.

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