* U.S. trade wars threaten growth -analysts
* Saudi Arabia promises to manage global oil supplies
* Mexico draws red line on asylum in talks to stop Trump
tariffs
* May saw biggest price drop since Nov: https://tmsnrt.rs/2DxgF8W
* Surging U.S. oil supply also weighs: https://tmsnrt.rs/2DwTUBQ
(Updates prices and market activity to settlement, adds analyst
comments)
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - Oil fell on Monday as U.S.
trade disputes with Mexico and China deepened concerns about
weakening global crude demand, while a slump in equities also
weighed on crude futures.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled at $61.28 a barrel,
losing 71 cents, or 1.2%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude CLc1 ended 25 cents, or 0.5%, lower at $53.25 a barrel.
Mexico said it would reject a U.S. idea to take in Central
American asylum seekers if it is raised at talks this week with
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which is
threatening the tariffs over immigration concerns. The possibility of tariffs on Mexico comes on top of a
drawn-out trade war between the United States and China that has
bruised oil prices.
"Focus has shifted from the supply to the demand side as a
U.S.-China trade agreement has proven elusive and as worries
over the debilitating effects of tariffs on global economic
growth have now shifted to Mexico," Jim Ritterbusch of
Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.
A downturn on Wall Street, which crude prices sometimes
follow, worsened losses in oil futures, analysts said. .N
Comments from Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de facto leader,
indicating that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and its allies would continue working towards oil
market stability in the second half of the year, helped limit
Monday's loses. "We will do what is needed to sustain market stability
beyond June. To me, that means drawing down inventories from
their currently elevated levels," Energy Minister Khalid
al-Falih was quoted as saying by the Saudi-owned Arab News
newspaper.
Brent futures have dropped almost 20% from their 2018 peak
as global supplies tighten following output curbs by OPEC and
Russia, as well as a reduction in Iranian and Venezuelan exports
due to U.S. sanctions.
The recent selloff in crude will likely solidify Saudi
Arabia's intention to maintain output reductions, analysts said.
"This selloff has to have gotten their attention yet again
and is precluding them from increasing production," said John
Kilduff, an analyst at Again Capital LLC.
Saudi Arabia pumped 9.65 million barrels of oil per day
(bpd) in May, a deeper cut than its production target under the
global pact to reduce oil supply, a Saudi oil industry source
said. The nation's output target under the OPEC-led pact is 10.3
million bpd.
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GRAPHIC-U.S. oil drilling, production & storage levels https://tmsnrt.rs/2DxgF8W
GRAPHIC-Oil prices since 2000 https://tmsnrt.rs/2KsgZK2
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