Crude oil futures edge lower on trade fears

Crude oil futures edged slightly lower on Wednesday on concerns over an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China. However, the decline was trimmed after government data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories. Oil trimmed its decline after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum status report showing that U.S. commercial crude inventories decreased by 4.6 million barrels last week. That's roughly in line with yesterday's report from the American Petroleum Institute, which reported a draw of 3.3 million barrels.

Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery declined 14 cents or 0.2 percent to settle at $63.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude lost 10 cents 0.2 percent to settle at $68.02 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.