12.06.201906:17:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall Over 2 Percent On Demand Concerns

Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Wednesday as trade worries and concerns about slowing growth returned to haunt investors.

Global benchmark Brent crude for August delivery tumbled 2.5 percent to $60.72 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down as much as 2.8 percent at $51.79 per barrel.

Trade tensions intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was holding up a trade deal with China and had no interest in moving ahead unless Beijing agrees to four or five "major points" which he did not specify.

Elsewhere, a measure of China's factory gate inflation slowed in May on weak commodity demand, reinforcing worries about cooling growth in the world's second largest economy.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecasts for 2019 world oil demand growth and U.S. crude oil production.

A surprise in increase in U.S. crude stockpiles also kept oil markets under pressure.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended June 7 to 482.8 million barrels. That compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 481,000 barrels.

Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later in the day.