Oil prices fall on concerns of slow fuel demand, weak China industrial data

Oil prices fell on Thursday, paring some of the previous day’s gains, as investors took profits on concerns of further interest rate hikes dampening economic growth and global fuel demand while weak economic data in China also weighed on sentiment.

Brent crude futures declined 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $73.63 a barrel by 0444 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $69.24 a barrel.

Both benchmarks climbed about 3% on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories dropped by 9.6 million barrels in the week ended June 23, far exceeding the 1.8-million barrel draw analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.