NEW YORK, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices slid on Wednesday as fears of possible diminishing demand for energy outweighed concerns over supplies.
The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery dipped 0.33 U.S. dollar to settle at 58.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery was down 0.66 dollar to close at 69.45 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Oil prices were pressured as investors were increasingly anxious about energy demand driven by trade fears and economic slowdown worries.
The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release data on U.S. crude inventories later Wednesday. The report was delayed due to Monday's Memorial Day holiday.
By far, oil prices have gained some support from the ongoing efforts of supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.
OPEC and other major oil producers, including Russia, pledged in December to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day in order to prop up prices, effective from this January.
Traders were also looking ahead to the next meeting by those countries to see whether their production pact will be extended, experts noted. Enditem