Oil prices steadied on Wednesday despite relatively weak Chinese import data as the market remained supported by falling U.S. crude inventories and the introduction of sanctions against Iran. Front-month Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $74.85 per barrel at 0951 GMT, up 20 cents, or 0.25 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were at $69.35 per barrel, up 18 cents. China’s crude imports recovered slightly in July after falling for the previous two months, but were still among the lowest this year due to a drop-off in demand from the country’s smaller independent, or “teapot”, refineries. Shipments into the world’s biggest importer of crude came in at 36.02 million tonnes last month, or 8.48 […]