Oil futures prices slip temporarily

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil futures prices fell Monday in response to some warmer weather in the United States that would presumably lower demand for home-heating fuel.
Light sweet crude for January delivery fell 72 cents to settle at $57.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
February Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $1.02 to settle at $56.11 a barrel.
The recent decline in Nymex crude prices came as temperatures rose in New York and throughout the U.S. Northeast, the world's largest market for heating oil.
But the milder weather was expected to be short-lived, forecasters said.
"It's a week where the East gets a break in the cold weather, but it will not last very long. During the holiday week, the cold and snowy weather returns," Accuweather.com meteorologist Henry Margusity said Sunday in a report.
Analysts' outlook
Mike Fitzpatrick of brokerage Fimat USA Inc. said that while mild U.S. weather was keeping downward pressure on oil futures, their late November lows of mid-$50s were likely "out of reach" for now.
Still, Jonathan Copus of Investec Securities in London suggested prices could slip marginally in the new year.
"People are going for a $55 Brent average next year," he said. Nymex crude prices could rise $1.50 to $2 higher than that, he said.
Nymex heating oil futures declined by 2.87 cents to $1.70 a gallon, while gasoline futures dropped 4.2 cents to $1.52 a gallon.
Natural gas futures rose by 41 cents to $14.04 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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