09:21 AM EDT, 04/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices weakened for a fourth session on Wednesday as the U.S. economy weakened in the first quarter, slowing demand, while OPEC+ readies a boost to supply even as a report showed a rise in U.S. inventories last week.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for June delivery was last seen down US$0.82 to US$59.60 per barrel, while June Brent crude was down US$0.79 to US$63.46.

WTI oil has dropped 16% over the past month as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies slow growth and threaten to throw the world's largest economy into recession. In its first estimate for U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product, the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Wednesday reported the U.S. economy weakened by 0.3%, down from growth of 2.4% in the final quarter of 2024, and under expectations for a rise of 0.8%, according to FactSet.

The drop in U.S. GDP follows on Tuesday's release of the U.S. consumer confidence index, which dropped to the lowest since 1990, while Wednesday also saw the release of the ADP Employment Report, which showed private sector hiring fell to 62,000 new jobs in April, under the expected rise of 134,000 positions and down from 147,000 in March.

The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure. will be released later on Wednesday morning, with analysts expecting a monthly rise of 0.4% in April, down from 0.8% in March.

The economic slowdown comes as OPEC+ readies to add 411,000 barrels per day of fresh supply to the market in May, as it returns 2.2-million barrels per day of production cuts to market, while the group is expected to add another outsized tranche of supply in June.

"Crude prices are heading for a major April loss of more than 15% on growing signs Trump's trade war is hurting economic growth and energy demand at a time when OPEC+ is raising production," Saxo Bank noted.

Rising U.S inventories are also cutting into oil prices, as the American Petroleum Institute's weekly survey showed U.S. oil stocks rose by 3.76-million barrels last week, while analysts polled by Oilprice.com expects a rise of 0.39-million barrels. The Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later on Wednesday morning.