Oil prices plunged on Wednesday as worries of economic recession intensified and the Biden administration pushed for U.S. fuel cost cuts.
Benchmark Brent crude futures fell $4.99, or 4.3 percent, to $109.69 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down $5.29, or 4.8 percent, at $104.23.
Recession worries gripped financial markets, with Goldman Sachs economists projecting a 30 percent chance of a U.S. recession over the next 12 months.
Elon Musk and Nouriel Roubini have also warned of a growing likelihood that the U.S. economy will fall into recession.
Amid mounting concerns about aggressive monetary policy tightening, investors await speeches by a couple of European Central Bank policy-makers and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day.
Also weighing on the oil market is a push by the Biden administration to bring down soaring fuel costs.
To curtail rising gas prices, Biden is expected to call for temporarily suspending the 18.4-cents a gallon federal tax on gasoline., Reuters reported.
Weekly U.S. petroleum inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute is due later in the day, a day later than usual due to Monday's holiday.
