By Jenny W. Hsu 
 

Crude oil future prices inched lower in early Asia trade Wednesday as traders squared their positions on fears U.S. stockpiles likely rose higher than expected, adding to an expanding global surplus.

According to the industry group American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. crude inventories likely rose 1.6 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 27. The estimate is bigger than the 1.2 million barrel draw surveyed by the pricing agency Platts.

Official data will be released later Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration. Last week, the U.S. government said at 488.2 million barrels, the country's inventories were at levels unseen at this time of the year in at least eight decades.

Traders will be also eyeing the refinery utilization rate and production figures to gauge future supplies.

"Directionally, the decline in production since April looks constructive, but it has been more gradual than bulls had been hoping for and insufficient to rebalance the global market or even deplete U.S. inventories," says Tim Evans, a Citi Futures analyst.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $41.63 a barrel at 0216 GMT, down $0.22 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.14 to $44.30 a barrel.

A global glut has been weighing on the industry for over a year and the problem is likely to continue as major producers, both inside and outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, aren't showing signs of cutting output. Traders will be watching the OPEC meeting this Friday for any moves by the cartel.

Prices for Nymex and Brent are around 40% lower from same time last year and have stayed in the below-$50 range for months.

"Trading remains thin as whatever decision is reached at the OPEC meeting this Friday will have a dramatic effect on prices," said Stuart Ive, a client manager at OM Financial.

He said if the OPEC opts to keep the "no-cut" policy, it will indicate Iran, which will likely boost exports in coming months after the sanctions are lifted, will add at least 500,000 barrels per day to the global pool. However, if the Saudi Arabia-led cartel decides to trim oil production quotas, prices will rally even with the current glut.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for January--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 80 points to $1.3550 a gallon, while January diesel traded at $1.3603, 87 points lower.

ICE gasoil for December changed hands at $401.25 a metric ton, down $1.50 from Tuesday's settlement.

Write to Jenny W. Hsu at jenny.hsu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2015 22:14 ET (03:14 GMT)