Oil falls as concerns over weak Chinese demand persist

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices declined today, July 25, amid concerns over weak Chinese demand and despite a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories last week.

Brent crude was trading down 0.88% at $80.99 per barrel at 08:33 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.92% to $76.88 per barrel.

The data released by the US Energy Information Administration on July 24 showed that US crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels last week, compared to the expectations of a 2.6 million barrel decline.

However, this failed to improve investor sentiment over China's weak economy and Beijing's demand for oil.

Other factors that affected oil prices today included the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and a decline in risk appetite due to the decrease in the US stock market, Reuters reported, citing Hiroyuki Kikukawa, President of NS Trading (a unit of Nissan Securities).