WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday morning, adding to losses suffered in recent sessions, as mounting trade tensions between the U.S. and China continued to weigh on the commodity.
With a solution to the U.S.-China trade looking more and more unlikely in the near future, concerns over the outlook for energy demand have risen as the tussle between the world's two largest economies is likely to further hurt the already slowing global economy.
Crude prices have been sliding despite OPEC-led output cuts and the sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September were down $1.19, or 2.22%, at $52.44 a barrel, off a low of $52.11 a barrel it had touched earlier.
Brent crude futures were down $1.44, or 2.4%, at $57.50 a barrel.
On Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures for September ended down $1.06, or 1.9%, at $53.63 a barrel.
Data released by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels in the week ended August 2 to 439.6 million barrels.
The weekly inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 10.30 am ET.
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