WTI attracts some sellers below $80.00 amid demand worries in China

• WTI price extends decline near $79.50 in Wednesday’s Asian session. 
• Chinese demand concerns weigh on the WTI price. 
• Rising bets on a Fed rate cut in September might limit the black gold’s downside. 

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $79.50 on Wednesday. WTI price edges lower as fears about a sluggish Chinese economy hurt oil demand.

The weaker Chinese economic data on Tuesday exerts some selling pressure on the black gold as China is the world's largest crude oil importer. "Weaker economic data continues to flow from China as continued government support programs have been disappointing, with many of China's refineries cutting back on weaker fuel demand," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.

China’s economy expanded 4.7% YoY in the second quarter (Q2), compared to a 5.3% expansion in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Meanwhile, China’s Retail Sales came in weaker than expected, climbing 2.0% YoY in June versus 3.1% expected and 3.7% prior.  

Nonetheless, the rising odds that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would cut interest rates might limit the downside for WTI. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that the US central bank has "more good" inflation data and could pave the way for its first interest rate cut later this year. Traders are now pricing in a 100% chance of a Fed rate cut in September, up from 70% a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. 

Elsewhere, crude oil inventories in the United States for the week ending July 12 fell by 4.44 million barrels from a decline of 1.9 million barrels in the previous week, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). Stocks on average were expected to fall by 33,000 barrels last week