Investing.com - New York crude oil futures eased in early Asian trade on Monday with the dollar index up slightly with the contract seen consolidating as large stockpiles in the United States weigh on the market. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in December fell to USD94.38 a barrel, down 0.12%, trading in a range of USD94.36 - USD94.49. On Friday, the contract closed at USD93.84 a barrel. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, traded at 80.95 on Monday, up 0.10%. Traders remained concerned about rising U.S. inventories. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that crude oil inventories last week rose by 2.6 million barrels, far more than the 994,000 barrels predicted by analysts. Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 388.1 million barrels as of last week, the highest since June. In the week ahead, investors will be closely watching Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy setting meeting. The U.S. is also to release data on retail sales and consumer prices. ICE January Brent crude settled at $108.50 a barrel on Friday, underpinned by lower oil exports caused by labor disputes in Libya.

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