Oil prices fall slightly ahead of weak data expected in China By Reuters

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday after China posted its weakest quarterly economic growth in at least 27 years, raising concerns over demand from the world's largest crude oil importer.

The Brent () futures for September fell 21 cents to 66.51 dollars a barrel at 02:22 GMT, while the US crude () lost 28 cents to 59.93 dollars a barrel. Last week, the two contracts recorded their strongest weekly increase in three weeks: a reduction in US oil production and diplomatic tensions in the Middle East.

Refineries in tropical storm Barry have continued to operate despite flood threats, while the storm has reduced crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico by 73 percent to 1.38 million barrels. per day.

A reduction in the risk premium of tropical storm Barry, a forecast of declining oil demand and a lack of information from the Middle East could have resulted in a moderate reaction to the price of oil, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of Vanguard Markets, based in Bangkok.

China's economic growth slowed down to 6.2% in the second quarter from the previous year, which is in line with analysts' expectations. Domestic and external demand weakened under the effect of the trade war between the two countries.

Nevertheless, China's industrial production and retail sales have exceeded expectations, "suggesting" that the Chinese economy is healthier than we had evaluated, "said chief strategist Michael McCarthy. markets at CMC Markets in Sydney.

In the Middle East, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday in a televised speech that Iran was ready to hold talks with the United States if Washington lifts the sanctions and returns to the 2015 agreement on the nuclear it abandoned last year.

Meanwhile, Britain has offered to facilitate the release of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, held, if Tehran gave guarantees that he would not visit Syria.