Crude oil futures were lower in mid-morning trade in Asia Sept. 10 after American Petroleum Institute data released late Sept. 9 pointed to an unexpected rise in US commercial crude inventories. At 10:17 am Singapore time (0217 GMT), ICE Brent November crude futures were down 22 cents/b (0.54%) from the Sept. 9 settle at $40.57/b, while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was 28 cents/b (0.74%) lower at $37.77/b. “ICE Brent futures managed to creep back above the $40/b level yesterday, with equities rebounding and the dollar resuming its weakening trend. However, fundamentally, not much has changed in the oil market,” ING analysts said in a note Sept. 10. “There continues to be concern over the state of the physical market, with values weakening and increasing difficulty in shifting West African cargoes […]