LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Fuel oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as freezing temperatures in Europe prompted some utilities to switch on oil-fired power plants to help meet demand in peak periods. In the UK, oil-fired power plants provided 4,610 megawatt-hours of electricity over the past 24 hours as power demand soared. Temperatures are expected to stay below seasonal norms for the next 10 days, according to forecaster Meteorlogix. Traders said that cold weather could result in draws to gas oil stocks, used for heating, but that they were comfortable for now. "We are going to need a sustained period of cold weather to bring stocks out," said a distillates trader. GASOLINE * Barges of benchmark Eurobob, the ARA gasoline benchmark, traded at $782-$783 a tonne fob ARA, down slightly from Monday's $785-$788 a tonne. * A trader said that around 5,000 tonnes of gasoline changed hands during the morning session in the ARA oil hub. * Eurobob's crack to dated Brent BFO- was quoted at around $6.76 a barrel, down from Monday's $6.86 level. * By 1221 GMT, ICE Brent crude futures LCOc1 were 21 cents down at $87.13 a barrel. * U.S. RBOB gasoline futures RBc1 in New York were 0.51 percent lower at $2.2730 a gallon by the same time. MIDDLE DISTILLATES * Barges of gas oil with 0.1 percent sulphur rose to discounts of minus $2 to ICE gas oil futures from minus $7 at the previous close. * But oil traders said that despite the drop in temperatures to below seasonal norms this week, supplies in the German inland market are still comfortable. * Diesel barge prices rose slightly to premiums of $24 a tonne fob ARA to ICE gas oil futures, from $21/$22 at the previous close. * December ICE gas oil futures LGOc1 were up 50 cents at $735.00 a tonne fob ARA by 1158 GMT. * The prompt crack was around $12.20 a barrel, barely changed from $12.28 at the previous close. LGO-LCO1=R * The prompt intermonth spread was in contango of $2.50 a tonne. LGO-1=R FUEL OIL * Barges of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) with 3.5 percent sulphur content were discussed at between $470-$473 a tonne fob ARA, up from Monday's $468.50-$472.50 a tonne. * Low sulphur fuel oil was bid at around $480 a tonne. (Reporting by Zaida Espana and Emma Farge; editing by James Jukwey)

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