Oil market edgy on US crude build, trade deal angst

Oil prices trod water on Thursday after losses in the previous session, as traders were cautious amid concerns over a potential delay in sealing a long-awaited interim US-China trade deal and a huge increase of US crude stockpiles.

Brent crude futures were down 3 cents, at $61.71 a barrel by 0348 GMT after settling down $1.22 per barrel, or almost 2 percent on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $56.29 a barrel, down 2 cents, from their last close. They settled 88 cents lower, or 1.54 percent, in the previous session.

US crude oil stockpiles rose 7.9 million barrels last week as refiners cut output and exports fell, beating analysts' expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

US crude exports fell nearly 1 million barrels last week to 2.4 million barrels per day.

"The sanctions are coming back to haunt oil bulls as a trifecta of negativity if you include the probable delay in signing the Phase one trade deal" between the world's top two economies and biggest oil consumers, Innes said.

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an interim deal could be delayed until December as talks continue over terms and venue, a senior official of the Trump administration told Reuters on Wednesday.