Special Reportfull coverage America's cheapest gas is in this town Summer drivers to get a break on gas Why gas prices are likely to keep climbing You'll pay a little less for gas this summer Expect relief from record February gas prices Why gas prices are rising

Playing oil stocks Earnings could fall dramatically if rising prices lead to reduced demand -- here's a way to cope. (Full story) Prices, where to from here? • Soaring oil prices a thing of the past? Maybe, but don't expect a plunge. • Oil bubble set to burst? For more oil features • Is OPEC becoming irrelevant? • Alternative energy stocks -- a good bet? • Where's all that oil money going?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Oil prices fell Wednesday after a government report showed a larger-than-expected rise in distillate stocks used for heating.

U.S. light crude for January delivery fell 13 cents to settle at $58.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude was down around 34 cents prior to the report and lost up to 89 cents immediately following its release.

The Energy Information Administration said crude stocks rose by 400,000 barrels in the week ended Nov. 18. Stocks of distillates grew by 1.1 million barrels and gasoline supplies rose by 200,000 barrels.

Analysts had predicted a 600,000 barrel rise in crude stocks, an 800,000 barrel increase in distillates and a 1.1 million build in gasoline supplies, according to Reuters.

Distillates, from which diesel fuel and home heating oil is made, have been watched closely in the prewinter season.

A trader said the warm autumn had so far made it easy for the larger distillate number to push the market lower, saying the recent cold spell is of little significance.

"It gets cold. Winters are cold, it's not a surprise," said Refco's Nauman Barakat. "We had such a mild November we'd need it to be 15 to 18 degrees below normal for the rest of the month to get the degree days we had last year, and that's not going to happen."

Barakat said the oil market seemed to be selling off after every little run-up in price and that crude would need to close above $59.10 before a rally could be sustained.

Crude prices rose the last two days, jumping more than 2 percent Tuesday as cold weather settled over the Northeast, the nation's largest market for home-heating oil.

Before the cold snap, oil had generally been on the decline, hitting a five-month closing low of $56.14 last Friday.

The decline in prices came as Gulf Coast refineries went back online and stocks of distilled products recovered following the devastating hurricanes late last summer. The storms stressed already tight supplies and pushed crude to its all-time trading high of $70.85 on Aug. 30.

Wednesday's report also said demand for gasoline rose 0.8 percent last week compared with the same week last year, while distillate demand rose 0.2 percent.

Fuel demand fell after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and analysts debated whether the drop was due to soaring energy prices or regional disruptions caused by the storms, although gas prices have also eased nearly 30 percent since Labor Day.

OPEC ministers said they would not consider a production cut when the cartel meets in Kuwait Dec. 12, Reuters reported.

OPEC has pumped at near full capacity for the last year but has not been able to stem the rise in crude prices in the face of growing demand from the United States, China and India, among others, and a worldwide refining shortage.

Crude has doubled in price over the last 20 months, according to Reuters.

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