Oil Dips on Weak Chinese Data and Near-Record OPEC Supply

Oil prices continued their slide Monday with lackluster manufacturing data from China and near-record supplies from OPEC producers fueling worries about oversupply.

Brent crude eased 0.17 percent to settle at $66.35 in mid-morning trade.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 0.15 percent to $59.06.

Analysts attribute the downward trend to data from global banking giant HSBC showing China's manufacturing activity slipped to a 12-month low in April, Agence France-Presse reported.

"The Chinese data is weaker but it seems the oil market has had a limited reaction. What the market really wants to see is supply being cut to match the demand level," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney's CMC Markets.

HSBC said Monday its final purchasing manager's index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector fell to 48.9 in April, weakening from 49.6 in March, and the weakest since 48.1 in the same month last year.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below signals contraction.

Meanwhile, oil supplies from the OPEC countries, which account for about 40 percent of the global oil supplies, climbed 0.2 percent to a more than two-year high in April, a Reuters survey showed.