Oil prices steady, but inventory build drags

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Crude futures were steady on Wednesday, but ballooning volumes in storage around the world were expected to pressure prices.

Brent oil futures were trading at $55.13 a barrel at 0229 GMT and U.S. WTI crude was at $47.48 a barrel - both virtually unchanged from their last settlement.

"Another week, another record U.S. commercial stock level," said U.S.-based PIRA Energy.

U.S. crude stockpiles were forecast to extend their record build into an eleventh consecutive week.

A poll of eight analysts, taken ahead of weekly reports from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, showed a crude stock build of 5.1 million barrels on average last week.

PIRA said that Japanese crude stocks had also risen slightly due to higher imports and spring-time refinery maintenance.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)