Oil prices fall on worries over demand growth outlook

By Jane Chung
SEOUL, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Monday, dragged
down by an economic slowdown and worries about the Sino-U.S.
trade war, which have led to a cut in the growth outlook for oil
demand.
International benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at
$58.25 a barrel by 0007 GMT, down 28 cents, or 0.5%, from their
previous settlement.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 futures were at
$54.28 per barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.4%, from their last
close.
Both benchmarks fell last week, with Brent losing more than
5% and WTI falling about 2%.
"Oil prices are falling at the start of the trading week due
to lower demand forecasts published last week and pessimism
about a U.S.-China trade deal," said Alfonso Esparza, senior
market analyst at OANDA in Toronto.
The U.S.-China trade dispute rocked global equity markets
last week, while a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks added
downward pressure to oil prices, which have lost around 20% from
their 2019 peaks reached in April. EIA/S
Mounting signs of an economic slowdown and a ratcheting up
of the U.S.-China trade war have caused global oil demand to
grow at its slowest pace since the financial crisis of 2008, the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.
The Paris-based agency cut its 2019 and 2020 global oil
demand growth forecast to 1.1 million and 1.3 million barrels
per day (bpd), respectively.
Elsewhere, Russia's oil production rose to 11.32 million bpd
on August 1-8, up from 11.15 million bpd on average in July,
according to two industry sources familiar with the energy
ministry data. In July, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia agreed to
extend their supply cuts until March 2020 to prop up oil prices.
In a sign of lower production in the United States, the
weekly U.S. oil rig count, an early indicator of future output,
fell for a sixth week in a row as producers cut spending on new
drilling and completions. RIG/U