Singapore - Oil edged higher in Asia on Wednesday ahead of a key report expected to show further build-up in US crude inventories, further hitting prices in an already oversupplied market, analysts said.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery rose one cent to $49.29 while Brent crude for April gained 24c to $58.90 in late-morning trade.
"There will probably be further increases in US inventories and this is bad for global crude oil prices which will fall even further," David Lennox, resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, told AFP.