Oil prices down on Tuesday amid China's weak trade rates

Oil prices decreased in early trade on Tuesday following reports of China's falling export rates in October and the strengthening of the US dollar.

International benchmark crude Brent traded at $84.29 per barrel at 9.48 a.m. local time (0648 GMT), a 1.04% fall from the closing price of $85.18 a barrel in the previous trading session on Monday.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at the same time at $79.94 per barrel, up 1.08% from Monday's close of $80.82 per barrel.

Oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as China's customs office reported a year-over-year drop of 6.4% in the country's exports to $274.8 billion, marking the sixth straight month of export declines from China.

A strengthening of the US dollar relative to other currencies, however, discouraged increases in oil prices.

Oil demand fell as a result of the US dollar index rising 0.20% to 105.257, making oil more expensive for other foreign currency traders.

However, the decision of the world's largest oil exporters, Saudi Arabia and Russia, to extend their additional voluntary production cuts until the end of the year limited further price decreases.

Saudi Arabia decided to implement an additional output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) following a cut of 500,000 bpd until December 2024, while Russia announced a fall in the country's exports of oil and oil products by more than 300,000 bpd in November compared to the average for the May-June period.