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Brent crude futures were down 79 cents, or 1.1%, at $71.05 a
barrel by 0948 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 82
cents, or 1.2%, to $67.89.
Both benchmarks had risen about 1% on Monday.
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.
Corpus Christi port remained open with restrictions.
The tropical storm is forecast to strengthen significantly and
become a hurricane on Tuesday, according to the National
Hurricane Center (NHC).
Exxon Mobil said it shut in output at its Hoover offshore
production platform while Shell paused drilling operations at
two platforms. Chevron also began shutting in oil and gas output
at two of its offshore platforms.
However, signs of weakening global demand and expectations of
oil oversupply kept the market suppressed.
Chinese data on Monday showed consumer inflation accelerated in
August to its fastest in half a year, though domestic demand
remained fragile, and producer price deflation worsened.
And while data released on Tuesday showed China's exports grew
at their fastest in nearly 1-1/2 years in August, imports
disappointed against a backdrop of depressed domestic demand.
"The message from China is simple but loud and reverberates
throughout the globe," said PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga, adding
that the country is struggling to encourage spending and boost
sluggish demand.
Later in the day, markets will be watching for the monthly oil
market report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC).
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is also due to
publish its short-term energy outlook, with forecasts for the
global market and U.S. crude oil output.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Additional reporting by Katya
Golubkova in Tokyo and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by
David Goodman)
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