(Bloomberg) -- Oil held near its lows following a rise in U.S. crude inventories and as a raft of negative U.S. data and persisting U.S.-China trade tensions stoked concerns over the demand outlook.

Futures in New York were flat after dropping 2.7% Wednesday -- the biggest decline since May 2. The U.S. Energy Department said weekly crude inventories swelled to the highest level since July 2017. Gasoline stockpiles also grew faster than expected, domestic oil production ticked up and refinery utilization fell to the lowest seasonally adjusted level in five years.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Thornhill in Sydney at jthornhill3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Andrew Hobbs

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