Oil prices were lower today near their lowest levels in almost two months under pressure from weaker global demand and rising inventories. Both benchmarks closed below their 200 day moving average. “Now it’s all a story of demand as risk premium from tensions in the Middle East seen last month morphs into residual risk,” said Gaurav Sharma, an independent oil analyst in London. A slump in worldwide diesel demand is also feeding concerns about slowing oil demand growth in big economies. Diesel demand in the U.S. Gulf Coast refining hub, also called PADD 3, is estimated to be below the prior three-year range, Hodes said. “The bearish kicker is that even with these inventory builds, production of distillates in PADD 3 is at its lowest level since the start of March,” he added. WTI traded down $.05 to close at $78.95. Brent traded up $.23 or .3% to close at $83.67