Oil edges lower over demand concerns in China

Oil prices eased on Thursday as demand worries over uncertainties about the Chinese economy outweighed expectations for further tightening of global crude supplies this year.

International benchmark crude Brent traded at $90.29 per barrel at 10.44 a.m. local time (0744 GMT), a 0.34% loss from the closing price of $90.60 a barrel in the previous trading session on Wednesday.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at the same time at $87.14 per barrel, down 0.46% from the previous session’s close of $87.54 per barrel.

Demand worries, triggered by fears of a slowdown in economic growth in China, eased price increases.

China reported Thursday another monthly decline in imports and exports.

Markets are now focused on more signals of economic activity from China, the world’s largest crude oil importer.

Reflecting near-term supply concerns, both benchmarks traded near nine-month highs as Saudi Arabia and Russia, the OPEC+ group’s largest producers, declared on Tuesday their intention to extend existing output restrictions until the end of 2023, with possible monthly modifications.

Saudi Arabia said that it would extend its production cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another three months, covering October, November and December, while Russia followed suit, extending export curbs of 300,000 bpd for the same time.

Meanwhile, another draw in US crude oil inventories has also stoked concerns about further global supply tightness this year.

Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) announced its estimate of a fall of around 5.52 million barrels in US crude oil inventories relative to the market expectation of a 1.43 million-barrel drop.

The US Energy Information Administration’s data on oil stocks will be announced later on Thursday.

• American Petroleum Institute (API)