REUTERS, Oct 22, 2015  – Oil prices edged up in Asian trade on Thursday, gaining support from a weaker dollar to hold above a three-week low hit in the previous session after a bigger-than-expected build in U.S. crude stocks added to concerns of a global oil glut.
Brent for December delivery rose 25 cents to $48.10 a barrel by 0434 GMT. The global crude benchmark finished down 86 cents, or 1.8 percent, on Wednesday, after hitting $47.50, its lowest since early October.
U.S. crude for December delivery climbed 23 cents to $45.43 a barrel, having settled down $1.09, or 2.4 percent, in the previous session. It earlier hit a three-week low of $44.86.
The higher values came as the dollar index fell against a basket of six major currencies on Thursday. A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities, including oil, cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
Still, analysts said the support from the dollar was unlikely to signal an end to the downward trend in oil prices.
Oil prices came under renewed pressure from worries about a global glut this week after U.S. crude inventories rose more than twice what analysts had expected.
U.S. crude stocks surged sharply for a second week, climbing 8 million barrels in the week to Oct. 16, data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday. [EIA/S]
That jump followed a rise of more than 7.5 million barrels in the previous week and put U.S. crude stocks up more than 22 million barrels over the last four weeks.
This will keep oil prices bouncing around support levels of about $48-$56 a barrel for Brent and $43.50-$50 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate, said Mike McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.