WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday, extending losses to a fourth successive session, amid concerns about outlook for energy demand due to a surge in coronavirus cases of the Delta variant.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down by $0.70 or about 1% at $66.59 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.48 or 0.7% at $69.03 a barrel a little while ago.
Worries about energy demand have risen after data showed China's industrial production and retail sales fell short of expectations in July.
Also, daily crude processing in China dropped to its lowest level last month, hitting the level last seen in mid 2020.
The Japanese government is set to extend COVID-19 emergency control measures to more areas and into September to suppress the fifth wave of infections, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Traders now await weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). While the API is set to release its inventory data later today, the EIA's report is due out Wednesday morning.
According to expectations, crude inventories in the U.S. may have dropped by about 3.1 million barrels in the week ended August 13.
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