Crude prices fall on U.S. stocks build

By Keith Wallis

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil futures fell in Asian trade on Wednesday after industry data pointed to a potential ninth straight week of inventory builds, renewing concerns about an oversupply of oil despite output curbs by OPEC and non-OPEC members.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $52.82 a barrel as of 0107 GMT, after ending the previous session down 0.1 percent.

Brent futures fell 29 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $55.63 after settling down 0.2 percent in the previous session.

"Oil is range-bound. If prices dip below $50 a barrel OPEC will cut more; if it goes above $55 the U.S. will produce more," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance in Sydney.

"The market is caught in this middle range. It's difficult to forecast the news that will eventually see a break-out."

U.S. crude stocks rose by 11.6 million barrels last week, according to industry group, the American Petroleum Institute.

If the figures are confirmed later on Wednesday by official data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) it would be the ninth straight week of inventory builds. [EIA/S]

The stocks data came as the EIA on Tuesday cut its 2017 world oil demand growth forecast by 110,000 barrels per day to 1.51 million bpd.

At the same time, members of an OPEC-led production agreement said on Tuesday total output reductions are more than 1.5 million barrels per day and are meeting their expectations.

(Reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Richard Pullin)