Crude oil prices were firmer but still below $53 a barrel in Asian trading hours as the market continued to focus on the warm winter weather in the northern hemisphere.
At 3.28am, the New York Mercantile Exchange's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, was at $52.60 a barrel, up $0.72 from $51.88 in late trading in the United States overnight.
Brent North Sea crude for February delivery was at $52.45 a barrel, up $0.75.
Large stockpiles and warm weather in the northern hemisphere have continued to drive down the price of oil, dealers said.
US reserves of distillates and gasoline rose sharply last week, offsetting a bigger-than-expected drop in crude oil inventories.
At the close of last year, oil was above $60, after hitting record highs of $78 in the middle of the year.
Opec decided at a meeting last month to cut output by 500,000 barrels a day from next months.