Oil prices fall new seven-month low

LONDON, Aug 07 (Reuters): Oil prices fell further on Wednesday, extending recent heavy losses as deepening US-China trade tensions weighed on the outlook for the global economy and energy demand.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 40 cents or nearly 0.7per cent at $58.54 a barrel by 1025 GMT, setting a fresh seven-month low. Prices have lost more than 20 per cent since hitting their 2019 peak in April.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 17 cents, or 0.3per cent, at $53.46.

Brent has plunged more than 9per cent over the past week after US President Donald Trump said he would slap a 10per cent tariff on a further $300 billion in Chinese imports from Sept. 1, sending global equity markets into a tailspin.

"The market continues to grow more uncertain about the demand outlook given the deterioration of trade talks between China and the US," ING analysts said in a note.

The bank lowered its 2019 price outlook, mostly because of demand concerns, forecasting that global oil supplies will exceed consumption in the first half of next year.

Trump on Tuesday dismissed fears that the trade row with China could be drawn out further. His comments failed to prevent shares in Asia from falling for an eighth straight session on Wednesday. London's FTSE 100 .FTSE gained.