SINGAPORE, Feb 25:  Oil prices were mixed in Asia today ahead of a key report expected to show further build-up in US crude inventories, hitting prices in an already oversupplied market, analysts said.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery fell 16 cents to $49.12 while Brent crude for April gained 13 cents to $58.79 in afternoon trade.
"There will probably be further increases in US inventories and this is bad for global crude oil prices which will fall even further," David Lennox, resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, told AFP.
Both WTI and Brent have fallen sharply this week as traders worry about abundant global supplies amid slower economic growth, with no sign of a slowdown in rising US crude stockpiles.
Experts polled by Bloomberg News expect crude reserves in the world's biggest economy to rise 3.75 million barrels in the week to February 20, adding to the 425.6 million barrels in stockpiles reported last week.
The US Department of Energy will release the official stockpiles report later Wednesday.
Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said the global supply glut cannot be reversed unless there is a drop in US crude production from current levels of around 9.2 million barrels a day.    ?Agencies