SINGAPORE, Feb 15 Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, adding to a near 2 percent sell off

SINGAPORE, Feb 15 (Reuters) Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, adding to a near 2 percent sell off the previous day caused by a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. heating fuel inventories.

U.S. crude for March delivery was 22 cents lower at $57.78 a barrel by 0753 GMT, after dropping $1.06 in New York on Wednesday. London Brent crude for April was down 23 cents at $57.20.

''It's still the cold weather in the U.S. that's driving fundamentals but because it is in February and the end is in sight, there's less impact on the market than it otherwise might have been,'' said Tobin Gorey, a commodities analyst with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

U.S. distillate stocks, including heating oil, fell by 3 million barrels last week, U.S. government data showed, but less than the 4.2 million barrel draw forecast by analysts. S] A winter storm is dumping snow on the northeast U.S. but the market is already looking towards the northern hemisphere's summer gasoline demand. A surprise gasoline stock 2 million barrel stock fall lent support after forecasts of a 1.9-million barrel rise, but stocks are still above last year's level.

U.S. crude stocks fell a meagre 600,000 barrels, well below an expected draw of 1.2 million barrels.

Prices failed to rally after a Saudi wing of al Qaeda called for attacks on U.S. oil supplies around the world and not just limited to the Middle East, listing Canada, Venezuela and Mexico as targets on a Web site used by Islamist militants.

''It is necessary to hit oil interests in all regions which serve the United States, not just in the Middle East. The goal is to cut its supplies or reduce them through any means,'' it said.

Security officials in the three countries said they are taking the threat seriously and are investigating but have not raised security levels.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman on Wednesday called on global leaders to act to remove the ''unacceptable risk'' to energy security, after various producer countries have sought tighter control and better terms for their oil and gas reserves.

Prices have climbed from a 20-month low of $49.90 reached on Jan. 18, but are still 26 percent down from a record over $78 last July.

Statements by OPEC members including Saudi Arabia that the cartel may not need to cut supplies for a third time during its meeting next month have dampened market sentiment.

REUTERS PV DS1541