Oil prices continued their losses in the previous session as high supply signals from the United States met concerns about lackluster energy demand from China.

Brent futures were down 48 cents at $80.70 a barrel at 06:30 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) fell 53 cents to $76.13 a barrel.

Both indicators fell more than 1.5% in the previous session.

WTI’s front-month contract also traded below its second-month price, a structure known as contango, indicating investors expect prices to rise. The front month’s discount to the second month traded at minus 17 cents on Thursday.

Concerns about a record U.S. production rate are putting new pressure on oil prices, adding to an already worrying demand outlook.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US crude inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels last week to 421.9 million barrels; This was well above analysts’ expectations for an increase of 1.8 million barrels.

US crude oil production remained steady at a record 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd).

In Asia, China’s oil refinery production fell in October from the previous month’s highs as industrial fuel demand weakened and refinery margins tightened. Still, economic activity revived in October as industrial production increased faster and retail sales growth exceeded expectations.

Data released Thursday morning underlined concerns about China’s real estate sector; It showed that new home prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in October, and property sales by floor area fell 20.33% on an annual basis.

Given that tighter oil supply-demand dynamics are less evident than they were months ago, there has since been some unwinding of previous bullish positions and prices have fallen below the 200-day moving average in a sign that sellers are retaining control.