Oil lower on U.S.-China tensions but heads for huge monthly rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Friday on fears of worsening Washington-Beijing relations and lacklustre U.S. fuel demand, but were still headed for sharp monthly gains.July Brent crude futures fell 34 cents, or 1%, to $34.95 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 12 cents, or 0.4%, at $33.59.Both benchmarks were on course for steep monthly gains due to global production cuts and optimism over demand growth as U.S. states and countries..