Oil prices edged lower on Friday after U.S. inventory data showed lacklustre fuel demand in the world’s largest oil consumer while worsening U.S.-China tensions weighed on global financial markets.

Brent crude LCOc1 slipped 36 cents, or 1%, to $34.93 a barrel by 0106 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $33.20 a barrel, down 51 cents, or 1.5%. Still, both contracts are set for a fifth weekly gain, helped by production cuts and optimism about demand recovery in other countries.

Thursday’s data from the Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories rose sharply last week. Fuel demand remained slack even as various states lifted travel restrictions they had imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, analysts said.

Source : Reuters