CORRECTED-U.S. oil prices edge up on reports of falling inventories, higher refinery runs

(Corrects headline to falling inventories, higher refinery
runs, not rising inventories)
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices edged
above $41 a barrel in early trading in Asia on Wednesday
following reports of falling stockpiles and rising refinery
activity, but analysts said the market would remain under
pressure for the rest of the year and into 2016.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) said late
on Tuesday that U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week by 482,000
barrels due to lower imports and higher refinery runs.
This helped push front-month U.S. crude futures CLc1 up 39
cents from their last settlement to $41.06 a barrel at 0025 GMT.
The gain followed an over $1 fall during the previous session.
Official inventory data is due later on Wednesday from the
U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Despite the slight gains on Wednesday, most analysts expect
prices to remain at low levels for the rest of the year and into
2016 as production continues to outpace demand.
"While the growth in U.S. unconventional production appears
to be slowly abating, the upsurge in Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) output, robust global stock
levels, and ongoing uncertainty around the strength of demand
suggest that the oversupply and surpluses are likely to continue
well into next year, exerting continued downward pressure on
prices," the Center for Strategic and International Studies said
in its 2016 outlook on Wednesday.
Analyst estimates for oversupply in 2015 range from 0.7 to
2.5 million barrels of oil being produced per day in excess of
demand.

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CHART-Oil prices: http://reut.rs/1RSgjbu
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(Editing by Michael Perry)