2019.11.1309:51:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall On Trade Worries, Demand Concerns

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as prospects for a trade deal between the United States and China dimmed and the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it expects global oil demand growth to slow from 2025.

Benchmark Brent crude fell as much as 1.2 percent to $61.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.9 percent at $56.30 a barrel.

Investor optimism over a potential U.S.-China trade deal waned after U.S. President Donald Trump said a significant phase one trade deal with China "could happen soon" but stressed that he would only accept an agreement that is good for U.S. companies and workers.

He didn't offer clarity on a rollback of import tariffs and threatened further increases in tariffs if a deal is not reached.

Meanwhile, the Paris-based IEA said in its annual World Energy Outlook that demand growth would continue to increase for the period to 2040 but there would be a marked slowdown in the 2030s.

Global oil demand growth is expected to grow by 1 million barrels per day on average to 2025 but is forecast to slow to an average of 100,000 bpd a year from then on.