WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are drifting lower Monday morning, extending recent losses amid concerns about outlook for energy demand.
Data showing declines in China's factory output and retail sales, signaling a slowdown in the world's largest economy's recovery from the pandemic, has raised concerns about energy demand.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September are down $1.11 or 1.6% at $67.33 a barrel.
Brent crude futures are lower by $1.04 or 1.47% at $69.55 a barrel.
China's industrial production growth slowed to 6.4% in July from 8.3% a month ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed Monday. Output was expected to gain 7.8%.
Retail sales grew at a slower pace of 8.5% on a yearly basis, following a 12.1% rise in June. This was also weaker than the economists' forecast of 11.5%.
Traders are also continuing to react to last week's report from the International Energy Agency which said demand for crude oil is expected to rise at a slower rate over the rest of this year due to the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries.
The unemployment rate in China climbed to 5.1% in July from 5% in June.
The slowdown partly reflects disruptions to consumer activity due to the recent virus flare-up and flooding in central China, Julian Evans-Pritchard and Sheana Yue, economists at Capital Economics, said.
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