Crude oil prices were down more than 1 percent early Tuesday on mixed economic news despite lingering geopolitical concerns in Asia and the Middle East.

Brent crude oil prices fell 1.1 percent from the previous close to trade at $64.60 per barrel early Tuesday. Brent prices are down about 2.3 percent from the start of May.

Conflict in the Middle East weighed on markets as Iraqi forces tried to regain control over key parts of Anbar, a Sunni-dominated province falling increasingly under control of the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State. Iraqi forces were criticized by U.S. Defense Department officials as unwilling to fight.

A defense policy paper released from Beijing warned China has an arduous task of defending its interests in the region. Beijing said it was concerned by foreign intervention in disputes over the South China Sea, describing U.S. military operations in the region as controversial.

"China is working toward establishing positive interactions with the United States in the Asia-Pacific region and hopes that other countries in the region will jointly safeguard peace, security and stability," Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said.

In terms of economic activity, ratings agency Moody's said the outlook for the Development Bank of Japan was "stable." Reports of a 2.4 percent jump in Japanese real gross domestic product helped lift crude oil markets last week.

For the Middle East, Moody's said it was upbeat about prospects for Tunisia, which in late 2011 helped kick off the wave of democratic reforms that came to be known as the Arab Spring.

For the United States, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the pace of U.S. economic recovery was uneven.

"A number of economic headwinds have slowed the recovery, and to some extent they continue to influence the outlook [from the Federal Reserve]," she said.

The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was down 1.5 percent from the previous close to $58.81 per barrel. WTI started May at around $59.19 per barrel.