Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as weak data and worries about a U.S. recession raised concerns about the outlook for oil demand.
Strong exports data from China helped limit oil's downside.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $1.10 or about 1.3% at $82.16 a barrel, after rising to multi-month highs in the previous session.
Brent crude futures were down $1.10 or 1.27% at $86.23 a barrel a little while ago.
On Wednesday, minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting indicated the economy could see a mild recession later this year due to the stress in the banking sector.
Oil prices were also weighed down by the OPEC's monthly report that flagged downside risks to summer oil demand.
Data showing a surge in China's crude imports in March supported oil prices.
Data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed crude oil inventories increased by 0.6 million barrels last week as against expectations for a drop of 0.6 million barrels.
