Crude oil futures remained lower in mid-morning Asian trade Thursday after the Energy Information Administration reported a build in US crude stocks. Rising tensions between the US and China also weighed on prices. At 10:10 am Singapore time (0210 GMT), the July ICE Brent crude futures were at $70.62/b, down 37 cents/b (0.52%) from Wednesday’s settle, while the NYMEX July light sweet crude contract also fell 37 cents/b (0.60%) to $61.05/b. According to the EIA, US crude inventories climbed 4.74 million barrels to 476.78 million barrels for the week ended May 17 as a result of higher production coupled with lower refinery runs. The build has countered analysts’ expectation of a 2 million barrel draw, a survey conducted by S&P Global Platts on Monday showed. Meanwhile, higher US domestic production, which rose by 100,000 barrels week on […]