• WTI prices remain subdued near 68.37, the lowest level since December 2023, which was recorded on Thursday.
• Crude Oil prices lost ground due to demand fears in the United States and China.
• EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change fell by 6.873 million barrels, against the expected decline of 0.9 million barrels.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Oil price trades around $68.60 during the Asian hours on Friday, hovering around 68.37 lowest since December 2023, which was recorded on Thursday. Crude Oil prices depreciate due to concerns over demand in both the United States (US) and China.

The US ISM Manufacturing PMI indicated that factory activity contracted for the fifth consecutive month, with the pace of decline slightly exceeding expectations. Additionally, the world's biggest crude importer China showed that manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low in August, with factory gate prices dropping significantly.

On Thursday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a Crude Oil Stocks Change, which reduced by 6.873 million barrels of crude Oil inventory for the week ending August 30. This was significantly larger than the market's expectation of a 0.9 million-barrel decrease, following the prior reduction of 0.846 million barrels.

The downside of the Oil prices would be restrained due to ongoing discussions between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia (OPEC ), regarding a delay in planned output increases set to begin in October. According to Reuters, OPEC decided to postpone the scheduled Oil output increase for October and November and indicated that further delays or reversals of the hikes could be considered if necessary.