Oil lower on U.S.-China tensions but heads for huge monthly rise

Oil prices eased on Friday on fears of worsening Washington-Beijing relations and lacklustre U.S. fuel demand, but were still headed for sharp monthly gains.

July Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 34 cents, or 1%, to $34.95 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 12 cents, or 0.4%, at $33.59.