Oil falls for second straight day on demand concerns

Oil prices fell during the European session on Monday, to deepen losses for the second straight day, after weak Chinese growth data  stoked fears over the global oil demand, in addition to an increase in US drilling activities for the second consecutive week.

WTI fell to $53.21, from the opening of $53.67, with an intraday high of $54.02.

Brent fell to $58.62 a barrel, from the opening of $59.26, with a high of $59.52.

WTI closed lower by 0.8% on Friday, and Brent futures shed 1%, their  first loss in three days, due to mounting concerns over weak Chinese data.

During last week, global oil prices fell an average of 2%, the third weekly loss in a month, due to bleak global oil demand outlook.

Chinese data showed on Friday that the GDP growth during the third quarter slowed to 6.0% from a year earlier lower than forecasts of 6.1% and also lower the previous annual reading of 6.2%.

The reading showed the Chinese economy grew by the slowest pace in nearly three decades, which is due to the one year old raging trade war between the US and China, as it has sharply impacted the factories production and decreased demand levels.

Baker Hughes Co announced on Friday, that the US crude oil drilling rigs increased by 1 rigs to 713 during the last week, which is the second consecutive weekly rise .

The US production also jumped about 47% since mid-2016 to its all-time high at 12.6 million barrels per day, due to the increased drilling activities.