Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Thursday, amid higher US inventories and lurking concerns of poor demand as the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread. At 10:48 am Singapore time (0248 GMT), March ICE Brent crude futures fell 55 cents/b (0.92%) from Wednesday’s settle at $59.26/b, while the NYMEX March light sweet crude contract fell 47 cents/b (0.88%) at $52.86/b. Total US crude inventories rose 3.54 million barrels to 431.65 million barrels during the week ended January 24, US Energy Information Administration data showed late Wednesday. The increase was larger than the 1.4 million-barrel build that analysts expected in an S&P Global Platts survey earlier Monday. Prices were also bearish as worries remain around the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand, analysts at UOB said in a note Thursday. Talk of OPEC potentially […]