Crude futures decline for 2d consecutive day

"It would be a rare event to have the market top out ahead of winter," said James Cordier, head trader at Liberty Trading Group Inc. of Tampa, Fla.

Instead, Cordier expects a "winter premium" to be built into the cost of oil, with prices rising to the $56 to $57 range, at least until the beginning of December. At that point, analysts will have a better understanding of winter demand and whether there is enough natural gas and heating oil to meet it.

"A real mild winter could be the catalyst to top off the market, but it's way too early to tell," Cordier said.

Light crude for November delivery settled down 38 cents to $53.29 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, coming on top of the $1.26 per barrel slide in prices the day before.

Futures prices had fallen as low as $52.59 in overnight electronic trading.

In London, December Brent crude futures on the International Petroleum Exchange fell 14 cents to settle at $48.77 per barrel.