Oil futures on Wednesday marked their lowest settlement prices of the year, after official U.S. data showed a weekly climb of nearly 9 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories and as the U.S.-China trade battle threatened to dent demand.

Thanks to abundant supply and fairly flat demand, oil prices are forecast to fall — unless tariffs and geopolitics get in the way.

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Wednesday as a large build in U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles signalled demand weakness while concern about a new China-U.S. trade war fuelled fears of softer economic growth.

Oil futures fell Tuesday morning, losing ground as the U.S. implemented an additional 10% tariff on China imports and Beijing retaliated with measures of its own.