Early on Thursday, WTI crude oil prices are trading somewhat steady, close to the lowest levels in several weeks as worries resurfaced about oil demand as the pace of economic recovery in the US remains uncertain. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $41.57 per barrel.

During the previous session, WTI crude oil lost over 2% of its value following the release of a Fed survey highlighting that progress towards economic recovery in the US was slow. Oil prices turned more bearish after the latest ADP report revealed that private payrolls in the US rose at a slower than expected pace in August, once again raising fears that economic recovery could take longer.

To add to the worsening outlook among oil traders, the EIA reported that gasoline demand also declined over the previous week, from 9.16 million bpd to 8.78 million bpd. The pessimistic data highlights that oil demand has not yet picked up even after countries eased lockdown restrictions and resumed economic activity.

WTI crude oil prices received a slight boost from the latest EIA inventories report which revealed a drop of 9.4 million barrels to 498.4 million barrels in US crude inventories over the past week. Despite the greater than expected decline, crude inventories in the US remain around 14% higher than the five year average for this period.