2019.06.1906:38:00UTC+00Oil Prices Slide Ahead Of EIA Report

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after rallying in the previous session following encouraging news on trade and interest rates.

The downside remained limited by optimism surrounding the U.S.-China trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he had a "very good" telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and will have an "extended meeting" at the G20 summit next week.

On the geopolitical front, tensions in the Middle East remain high after last week's tanker attacks.

Media reports suggest that a rocket hit an oil-drilling site in Iraq's southern Basra province early Wednesday, striking inside a compound housing energy giant Exxon Mobil and wounding three local workers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Benchmark Brent crude slid 0.6 percent to $61.78 a barrel after climbing 2 percent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.1 percent at $54.08 a barrel after surging as much as 3.8 percent on Tuesday.

After the American Petroleum Institute reported a modest weekly fall in U.S. crude stocks late Tuesday, investors now await official stockpile data from the Energy Information Administration, due out later in the day.