July 25 Reuters Oil prices slipped on Thursday as lacklustre Chinese consumption signalled weaker demand from the world39;s biggest crude importer, outweighing support from Wednesday39;s data showing large draws on U.S. oil inventories.

Brent crude futures for September fell 91 cents, or 1.1, to 80.80 a barrel by 1315 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September slid 85 cents, or 1.1, to 76.74.

Both benchmarks fell by more than 1 per barrel during the session.

Oil had risen on Wednesday, snapping consecutive sessions of declines after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories fell by more than expected to 3.7 million barrels last week.

U.S. gasoline stocks dropped by 5.6 million barrels, against analyst expectations of a 400,000barrel draw.

Despite draws in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks, investors remained wary about weakening demand in China and expectations of advancing ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas added to pressure, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, owned by Nissan Securities.

China39;s oil imports and refinery runs this year have trended lower than in 2023 on weaker fuel demand amid sluggish economic growth, government data shows.

Growing concerns over the strength of oil demand in the short to medium term have acquired a strong grip on market sentiment, said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insight.

In the Middle East, efforts to reach a ceasefire deal to end the war…