Oil prices decreased in early trade on Tuesday following reports of China's falling export rates in October and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.
International benchmark crude Brent traded at $84.29 per barrel at 9.48 a.m. local time (06:48 GMT), a 1.04% fall from the closing price of $85.18 a barrel in the previous trading session on Monday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at the same time at $79.94 per barrel, up 1.08% from Monday's close of $80.82 per barrel.
As of 11:03 a.m. Moscow time (08:03 a.m. GMT) the Brent price was down by 1.54% at $83.9 per barrel. As of 11:20 a.m. Moscow time (08:20 a.m. GMT) the price of Brent oil was down by 1.5% trading at $83.93, whereas the price of futures contracts of WTI crude oil for January delivery was down by 1.02% at $79.62 per barrel.
Oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as China's customs office reported a year-over-year drop of 6.4% in the country's exports to $274.8 billion, marking the sixth straight month of export declines from China.
A strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, however, discouraged increases in oil prices.
Oil demand fell as a result of the U.S. dollar index rising 0.20% to 105.257, making oil more expensive for other foreign currency traders.
