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Empresas y finanzas

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 10.29 p.m. ET 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)