Crude oil futures were lower during mid-morning in Asia Wednesday after a bearish US inventory report, while lingering optimism over the US-China phase one trade deal capped further declines. At 10:25 am Singapore time (0225 GMT), ICE February Brent crude futures were down 28 cents/b (0.48%) from Tuesday’s settle at $65.82/b, while the front-month NYMEX January light sweet crude contract was 38 cents/b (0.62%) lower at $60.56/b. Analyst reports quoting data released by the American Petroleum Institute Tuesday said US crude inventory rose 4.7 million barrels in the week ended December 13. Analysts surveyed Monday by S&P Global Platts had been expecting a 2.5 million-barrel draw. “The sizzling oil market rally came to a grinding halt after an unexpected climb in the weekly US crude inventory report,” AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said […]