Crude oil futures were little changed in Asian trade Thursday after posting handsome gains overnight on the back of a surprise decline in U.S. oil inventories.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $93.97 a barrel at 0646 GMT, down $0.27 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.04 to $109.72 a barrel.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by nearly a million barrels in the week ended Jan. 11, against expectations of a 2.1-million-barrel build. The sharp decline helped ease some pressure off the market that has been weighed down by stubbornly high inventory levels.

But analysts say the size of the draw isn't big enough to eradicate concerns of a supply glut in the market. U.S. oil stocks still stand at a 30-year high for this week, amid widespread concerns over the pace of global demand growth.

United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohamed Al-Hamli said Wednesday oil markets still remain oversupplied and demand recovery will also hinge on how the European financial crisis is being handled.

"Demand is not in good shape, there will be an increase, but less than last year," Mr. Hamli told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

With the stockpiles data out of the way, investors will focus on China's fourth-quarter economic growth numbers due to be released Friday.

China has emerged as a cornerstone for global oil demand growth and signs of a slowing Chinese economy have capped gains in oil prices that have already been under pressure because of economic weakness in the U.S. and Europe.

China is expected to report on Friday that its fourth-quarter gross domestic product rose 7.8% from a year earlier, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts. If confirmed, it would be the first increase in year-on-year growth since the fourth quarter of 2010, confirming that growth in the world's second-largest economy is rebounding after a prolonged slowdown. Third-quarter GDP rose 7.4% on year.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for February--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 26 points to $2.7240 a gallon, while February heating oil traded at $3.0052, 61 points higher.

ICE gasoil for February changed hands at $952.25 a metric ton, down $2.75 from Wednesday's settlement.