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(Bloomberg) — Oil halted its advance near $45 a barrel as lower Chinese industrial profits signaled demand may be weakening in the world’s second-biggest consumer.

West Texas Intermediate futures fell as much as 2.1 percent after climbing 2.3 percent last week. China’s industrial-company profits dropped 8.8 percent in August, the most in at least four years, while measures of its factory output and U.S. non-farm payrolls data are due later this week.

Crude had rebounded from a six-year low in August as low prices forced U.S. drillers to idle rigs, causing production to slip in six of the past seven weeks. That rally is sputtering on speculation that a global glut will persist as Chinese economic growth slows and Iran prepares to boost exports should sanctions against the country be lifted.

“The focus has been on weak economic data from China today and apprehension demand will slow,” Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich, said by phone. “The global market is still oversupplied but slowing U.S. output is allowing the market to rebalance.”

WTI, Brent

WTI for November delivery slid as much as 96 cents to $44.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $44.83 as of 11:47 a.m. London time. Prices climbed 1.8 percent on Friday to $45.70. The contract has lost 10 percent this month.

Brent for November settlement dropped 86 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $47.74 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices rose 43 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $48.60 on Friday, and climbed 2.4 percent for the week. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.85 to WTI.

Chinese industrial profits tumbled the most since the government began releasing the monthly information in October 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The drop was attributed to falling product prices, lower investment returns and foreign-exchange losses, the National Bureau of Statistics said in an analysis on the agency’s website.
“The market’s still in an adjusting process and seeing what the world economy is going to do,” Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said by phone.

IMF Revision

Les Echos reported Monday that the International Monetary Fund is set to cut global growth forecasts for 2015-16 as the “process of recovery” slows. Growth of 3.3 percent for this year is no longer realistic, nor is 3.8 percent for next year, the newspaper said, citing IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

Also on Monday, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it will stop searching for oil and gas off Alaska, citing high costs and “challenging” drilling regulations. The Hague-based Shell will abandon the Burger J well in the Chukchi Sea as indications of oil and gas weren’t sufficient to warrant further exploration.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net; Rakteem Katakey in London at rkatakey@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pratish Narayanan at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net Amanda Jordan, James Herron