Oil Falls to Lowest in a Week as Trade War Ratchets Up - Bloomberg

Oil Falls to Lowest in a Week as Trade War Ratchets Up - Bloomberg:

Oil fell to the lowest level in a week as the U.S.-China trade war escalated against the backdrop of swelling American crude inventories.

Futures fell 1.4% in New York on Thursday. In the latest salvo of the dispute between the world’s biggest economies, the Chinese government said it “has no choice but to take necessary measures to retaliate” against planned U.S. tariffs on billions of dollars in products. Meanwhile, U.S. oil stockpiles expanded by about four million barrels during the past two weeks, halting almost two months of storage withdrawals.

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery slipped 76 cents to settle at $54.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for October settlement declined $1.25 to settle at $58.23 on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The global benchmark traded at a $3.81 premium to WTI for the same month.