Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday, weighed down by a weaker oil demand outlook and a rise in U.S. crude inventories despite growing expectations of ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 87 cents, or 1.4%, at $61.42 a barrel by 0231 GMT, Reuters said.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 85 cents, or 1.6%, at $52.41 per barrel.
Read alsoReuters: Oil stable as market eyes ongoing supply cuts amid downturn
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecasts for 2019 world oil demand growth and U.S. crude oil production in a monthly report released on Tuesday.
The EIA lowered its 2019 world oil demand growth forecast by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.22 million bpd and wound back its forecast for 2019 U.S. crude production to 12.32 million bpd, 140,000 bpd less than the May forecast.
A surprise increase in U.S. crude stockpiles also kept oil prices under pressure.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended June 7 to 482.8 million barrels, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. That compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 481,000 barrels.
