The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery lost 16 cents to settle at 69.09 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery decreased 13 cents to close at 71.31 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The above moves came as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 would threaten oil demand recovery.
"Global oil demand surged by 3.8 mb/d month-on-month in June, led by increased mobility in North America and Europe," the IEA said in its closely-watched monthly oil market report.
"However, demand growth abruptly reversed course in July and the outlook for the remainder of 2021 has been downgraded due to the worsening progression of the pandemic and revisions to historical data," the international energy watchdog said in the report.
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