Oil stays below $88 on ample US stocks

"The oil price should not fall any further, as this is precluded above all by the ongoing risks to supply due to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East," said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "Alongside Egypt, Syria, Gaza and Iran all remain latent trouble spots, thus justifying a risk premium on the oil price."

In a commodities report, Goldman Sachs forecast the average price for benchmark crude in 2013 at $105.50 per barrel and at $99 per barrel in 2014.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

— Heating oil rose 0.22 cent to $2.9929 a gallon.

— Natural gas added 1.8 cents to $3.718 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Wholesale gasoline was up 0.74 cent to $2.6452 a gallon.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.