Crude oil futures were higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Thursday, following a smaller-than-expected build in US crude inventory and coupled with OPEC’s latest report on its production levels, as market participants looked forward to developments in trade talks between the US and China.  At 10:45 am Singapore time (0245 GMT), ICE February Brent crude futures moved 25 cents/b (0.39%) higher from Wednesday’s settle to $63.97/b, while the front-month NYMEX January light sweet crude contract moved 12 cents/b (0.2%) higher to $58.88/b. According to data released by the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, US crude inventory for the week ended December 6 climbed 822,000 barrels, while preliminary reports expected US crude stocks for the same period to have increased by 1.4 million barrels. “It [US crude stocks] was a smaller build than the plus 1.4 million […]