Oil prices edged lower on Monday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting as investors try to gauge the central bank’s appetite for further rate hikes, while concerns about China’s fuel demand growth and rising Russian crude supply weighed on the market.
Brent crude futures fell 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $74.50 a barrel by 0058 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $69.93 a barrel, down 24 cents, or 0.3%.
Both benchmarks notched their second straight weekly decline last week as disappointing China economic data raised concerns about demand growth in the world’s largest crude importer, offsetting a boost in prices from Saudi Arabia cutting an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from production in July.
