Singapore — Oil prices slipped on Thursday, weighed down by rising supply going into a market in which consumption is expected to slow down amid a glum economic outlook. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were trading at $65.88 a barrel at 4.41am GMT, down 24c, or 0.4%, from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.96 a barrel, down 29c, or 0.5%. Since early October, oil prices have lost around a quarter of their value as supply soars just as demand is expected to slow down along with an economic downturn. “Asian refiners and consumers we speak with are mentioning initial concerns of slowing demand,” said Mike Corley, president of Mercatus Energy Advisors. US bank Morgan Stanley said in a note on Wednesday that China’s economic “conditions deteriorated materially” in the third quarter of 2018, while analysts at Capital Economics said China’s “near-term economic outlook still remains downbeat”. China is the world’s biggest oil importer and the sec...
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