2019.10.1407:08:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall Over 2% On Doubts Over US-China Deal

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as scant details about the first phase of a trade deal between the United States and China cast doubts over the durability of the partial preliminary deal.

Lingering Brexit uncertainty and weak Chinese data also raised concerns of lower fuel demand.

Benchmark Brent crude fell as much as 2.2 percent to $59.16 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 2.15 percent at $53.50 a barrel.

The U.S. and China reached a phase one deal late on Friday, which appeared to be more of a temporary truce. The deal hardly touches on the real sticking points of technology transfer and intellectual property theft.

Analysts warned that negotiations could break down again before the phase one agreement is drafted.

Elsewhere, Britain and the European Union said on Sunday a lot of work remains to be done to secure an agreement on Britain's departure from the bloc.

On the data front, official data showed China's exports declined more than expected in September reflecting weak global growth and trade disputes with the U.S. administration.

In dollar terms, exports fell 3.2 percent year-on-year in the month, the General Administration of Customs said. This was bigger than the expected 3 percent decrease and prior month's 1 percent fall.

At the same time, imports decreased 8.5 percent annually versus the expected decline of 6 percent. As a result, the trade surplus increased to $39.65 billion from $34.83 billion a month ago.