Despite data showing a drop in crude inventories last week, crude oil futures ended sharply lower on Wednesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand dragged down oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June settled at $74.30 a barrel, down $2.77 or about 3.6% from the previous close.
Brent crude futures were down $2.81 or 3.52% at $77.71 a barrel a little while ago.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) this morning showed crude oil inventories decreased by 5.1 million barrels to 460.9 million barrels in the week ended April 21.
The EIA data showed gasoline inventories dropped by 2.4 million barrels to 221.1 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles decreased by 600,000 barrels to 111.5 million barrels.
Data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday revealed that U.S. crude inventories fell by about 6.1 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected crude inventories to fall by about 1.7 million barrels.
Data showing a drop in U.S. consumer confidence in April has raised concerns the economy is slipping into recession this year.
It is also feared that further monetary tightening by central banks could slow economic growth and hurt energy demand in several countries, including the U.S., the U.K., and the European Union.
