TOKYO: Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as investors awaited US crude inventory data for a pointer on oil demand trends, while concerns about slower economic growth overshadowed signs of a thawing in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Brent futures were down 6 cents at $61.51 a barrel by 0311 GMT, having fallen 0.7 per cent on Monday.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 12 cents at $55.69, after falling 1.5 per cent in the previous session.
Prices rose sharply last week amid a decline in US inventories and signs of an easing in the US-China trade war, but worries on Monday about weaker economic growth offset hopes of a rise in oil demand even if trade talks progress.
“The inventory read last week is still reverberating through trading, although we did see that finally start to give way last night, but we can see there is very little appetite to go on with it today,” said Michael McCarthy, strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.
US crude inventories were forecast to have increased by around 700,000 barrels last week, having unexpectedly fallen the previous week, the first decline in six weeks.
US crude oil stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, have risen by about 1.5 million barrels in the week through October 25, traders said earlier, citing data from market intelligence firm Genscape.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) releases industry data on Tuesday, while the US Energy Information Administration releases industry data on Wednesday. — Reuters
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