25.03.201915:40:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures Settle Lower Again On Growth Concerns

Crude oil prices edged lower on Monday, as fears of a drop in energy demand due to global economic slowdown outweighed optimism over OPEC-led supply cuts and the U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

The recent downward revisions in inflation and growth forecasts by the U.S. Federal Reserve due to ongoing headwinds from trade tensions and growing political fragmentation, and the notable drop in 10-year treasury yields impacted oil prices.

West Texas Crude oil futures for May ended down $0.22, or 0.4%, at $58.82 a barrel.

On Friday, crude oil futures for May ended down $0.94, or 1.6%, at $59.04 a barrel.

The focus will now be on weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA). While the former will release its report on Tuesday afternoon, the latter will come out with its data on Wednesday morning.

In the week ended March 15, U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by 9.6 million barrels, the largest decline since July, boosted by strong export and refining demand. That compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 309,000 barrels.