NEW YORK, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices suffered steep losses on Monday, as traders assessed risks from both the supply and the demand sides.

The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery shed 5.39 U.S. dollars, or 7.5 percent, to settle at 66.42 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery decreased 4.97, or nearly 6.8 percent, to close at 68.62 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The sell-off came as traders worried that a rebound in COVID-19 cases would dampen fuel demand outlook.

Market participants also digested major oil producers' agreement on output.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries, known as OPEC+, agreed in an online meeting on Sunday to boost oil production by 400,000 barrels a day as demand increases.

OPEC and its non-OPEC allies also reached a deal to phase out the cut of 5.8 million barrels per day of oil production by September 2022 "subject to market conditions."

Last year OPEC+ cut production by a record 10 million barrels per day (bpd) amid a pandemic-induced decrease in demand and dropping prices. The adjustment was slowly reduced and currently stands at 5.8 million barrels.

In its statement, OPEC+ said that countries had agreed to adjust upward their overall production as from August and then assess market developments and participating countries' performance in December.

For the week ending Friday, the U.S. crude benchmark fell 3.7 percent and Brent declined 2.6 percent, based on the front-month contracts. Enditem

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