World oil prices were mixed in cautious deals on Wednesday as traders awaited the weekly snapshot of crude inventories from top global consumer the United States.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December dropped 12 cents to $113.88 a barrel in London midday deals. The November contract had expired Tuesday at $115.07.
New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI), or light sweet crude for November delivery, firmed seven cents to $92.16 a barrel.
The market also diverged Tuesday as investors pitted upbeat economic data against a slack global demand outlook and tensions in the Middle East, analysts said.
Later on Wednesday, at 1430 GMT, the US government's Department of Energy will publish its report on American oil stockpiles for the week ending October 12.
Market expectations are that US crude reserves sank by 1.5 million barrels last week.
Data released by industry body the American Petroleum Institute showed crude stockpiles in the US -- the world's largest oil consumer -- rising 3.7 million barrels last week, higher than analyst projections of a two-million-barrel gain.
"The contract rollover is mainly to blame for the dip in (Brent oil) price," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
He added: "Besides this purely technical aspect, the surprisingly sharp 3.7-million-barrel increase in US crude oil stocks reported by the API yesterday after close of trading is weighing on the oil price.
"Thus the expectation that the official inventory data from the US Department of Energy will show a 1.5-million-barrel inventory build could prove to be an underestimation."
Rising stockpiles normally weigh on prices because they are regarded as an key indicator of weakening demand for energy.
The oil market meanwhile won some support after ratings agency Moody's late Tuesday decided not to cut Madrid's credit rating, citing Spain's commitment to reforms and European Central Bank help over its debt.
