Ammon News - Oil prices edged down on Tuesday as weak Chinese demand offset U.S. supply disruptions from Tropical Storm Francine and as global oil oversupply risks continued to weigh on the market.

Brent crude futures were down 32 cents, or 0.45%, to $71.51 a barrel by 0652 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 38 cents, or 0.55%, to trade at $68.33 a barrel.

Both benchmarks gained around 1% at Monday's settlement.

The U.S. Coast Guard ordered the closure of all operations at Brownsville and other small Texas ports on Monday evening, as Tropical Storm Francine barrelled across the Gulf of Mexico.

The port of Corpus Christi remained open but with restrictions.

"At least 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil capacity is at risk of being disrupted," ANZ analysts said in a note, citing data from the NHC.

However, signs of weakening global demand and expectations of existing oil oversupply continued to weigh on the market.

China data on Monday showed the country's consumer inflation accelerated in August to the fastest pace in half a year but domestic demand remained fragile, and producer price deflation worsened.

And while data released on Tuesday showed China's exports grew at their fastest pace in nearly 1-1/2 years in August, imports disappointed amid depressed domestic demand.

Reuters