Oil prices edged up on Wednesday, but overall markets were weighed down by slowing economic growth in Asia and the United States.

    Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $45.07 per barrel at 0752 GMT, up 10 cents from their last settlement. US crude CLc1 was up 24 cents at $43.89 a barrel. 

    Wednesday's higher prices followed two trading sessions that added up to a nearly 7 percent fall for Brent and a 5 percent drop for US crude from end-April levels, pulled down by rising output from the Middle East and renewed signs of economic slowdown in Asia.

    In oil production, US output has fallen from a peak of over 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in summer last year to just over 8.9 million bpd currently, triggering one of the biggest wave of bankruptcies in American corporate history.

    Despite falling output, US crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week to April 29 to 539.7 million barrels, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, enough to meet global demand for almost a week.