2018.08.2307:42:00UTC+00Oil Prices Flat After Wednesday's Sharp Rise

Crude oil prices are little changed Thursday morning with traders largely making cautious moves amid U.S.-China trade tensions.

Crude oil futures for October delivery are down $0.08, or 0.12%, at 67.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after having jumped by over 3% in the previous session.

The U.S. tariffs on another $16 billion worth of Chinese goods kicked in today, and China has retaliated swiftly, levying 25% tariffs on $16 billion worth of imports, including diesel fuel and other chemical products, from U.S.

Data released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed that U.S. crude inventories dropped by 5.836 million barrels in the week ended August 17. That was substantially higher than expected draw of 1.497 million barrels.

Crude Imports fell by about 1.059 million barrels a day, while exports fell by 2.58 million barrels per day, data from EIA showed.