Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors weighed a possible tightening of U.S. crude supplies against weaker-than-expected Chinese economic growth.
Brent crude was down 1 cent at $78.49 a barrel by 0753 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude edged up 1 cent to $74.16 a barrel.
Both contracts fell more than 1.5% on Monday, following lacklustre Chinese data and the partial restart of some Libyan oilfields.
Market participants were awaiting industry data later on Tuesday that is expected to show U.S. crude oil stockpiles and product inventories fell last week.
Sluggish gross domestic product (GDP) data from China released on Monday "kept a cautious lid on prices with some reservations in its demand recovery," said Jun Rong Yeap, a market strategist at IG in Singapore.
China's GDP grew 6.3% year-on-year in the second quarter, compared with analyst forecasts of 7.3%, as its post-pandemic recovery lost momentum.
Meanwhile, U.S. shale oil production is projected to see its first monthly decline since December 2022, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Monday.
Source : Reuters
