Oil prices higher

Singapore
Oil prices inched higher in Asia Thursday but gains were capped as dealers fretted over an over-supplied global market after US crude reserves once again swelled to a record high.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 15 cents to $48.32 while Brent crude rose 56 cents to $58.10 in afternoon trade.
The US Department of Energy said Wednesday crude oil inventories surged by 4.5 million barrels in the week to March 6 to 448.9 million, the highest level since the beginning of the weekly data series in 1982.
“We expect heavy downward pressure today for crude prices,” said Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. Ang said the pressure on prices was mainly due to the “realisation that US production remains strong” despite the record-level inventories.
Crude prices lost some 60 percent of their value to decline to about $40 between June and late January owing to an oversupply in world markets, a weak global economy and the strong dollar.