Brent crude prices slipped on Monday as a slump in Chinese imports pointed to lower fuel demand in the world’s biggest energy consumer, outweighing falling U.S. oil rig counts and signs of healthy U.S. growth. China’s trade performance slumped in January. Exports fell 3.3 percent from a year earlier while imports tumbled 19.9 percent, highlighting a deepening slowdown. Global benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 for March was down 25 cents at $57.55 a barrel by 0845 GMT after rising as high as $59.06 earlier in the session. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 15 cents at $51.84 a barrel, having hit a session high of $53.40. While overall Chinese crude import figures remained high, analysts said signs of a slowdown were weighing on prices. “Opportunistic buying waned in January as a combination of weak demand, high inventories and tight credit conditions impacted import demand,” ANZ bank said […]