Early on Friday, WTI crude oil prices are continuing their slide lower from the previous session on account of escalating worries about the deep freeze in Texas shutting down refineries for an extended period of time and how this could dent the demand for crude oil. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $59.49 per barrel.

Crude oil prices had soared to touch the highest level seen in 13 months on account of the extremely cold weather that has curtailed US crude production by around 3.5 million bpd. While this sentiment had initially driven a rally over possible tightening in supply, the focus has since shifted to its impact on oil refiners.

Oil refineries across Texas will take some time to revive their operations even after the weather improves, which could drive a build-up in crude stockpiles in the US. Refinery outages and the possibility of oil refiners advancing their plans for maintenance could weaken the demand for crude oil, which has caused prices to post a steep decline since Thursday.

WTI oil, however, received some support from the EIA report which released in the previous session and revealed a larger than expected decline in US crude inventories. According to the EIA, crude stockpiles fell by 7.3 million barrels to 461.8 million barrels during the past week.