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0933 GMT, Brent crude futures for November were down 51 cents at
$88.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI)
October futures edged 14 cents lower to $85.41 a barrel.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is considered crucial
to shoring up oil demand over the rest of the year. Its sluggish
economic activity has frustrated markets as pledged stimulus has
fallen short of expectations.
A private-sector survey on Tuesday showed that China's services
activity expanded at the slowest pace in eight months in August
as weak demand continued to dog the world's biggest oil
importer.
Analysts said the markets had priced in China's recent effort to
boost the economy, offsetting support from expected oil supply
cuts.
Meanwhile, data from Europe was also grim. A survey showed a
steeper-than-expected decline in euro zone business activity
last month as the bloc's dominant services industry contracted,
suggesting the bloc could drop into recession.
In Britain, a survey indicated service activity fell in August,
the first drop since January as higher interest rates reduced
consumer and corporate demand.
In Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, household spending
in July fell 5.0% from a year earlier, deeper than a forecast
decline of 2.5% and continuing into a fifth month of falls.
Eyes are also on U.S. economic data expected later on Tuesday
for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will end its aggressive
interest rate hike campaign.
Saudi Arabia is widely expected to extend voluntary oil cuts
into October and Russia will unveil a new OPEC+ supply cut deal
this week, according to its deputy prime minister.
Moscow has already announced it will cut exports by 300,000
barrels per day (bpd) in September, following a 500,000 bpd cut
in August. Riyadh is also expected to roll over a voluntary 1
million bpd cut into October.
"Given market expectations, it is unlikely that the two
producers would stray away from an extension and so risk a
sell-off in the market," ING analysts said.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London, Katya Golubkova in Tokyo
and Andrew Hayley in Beijing; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Miral
Fahmy, Kim Coghill and Sharon Singleton)
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