Oil prices tanked on Thursday as domestic prices ended at their lowest settlement in a month and the nearing expiration of the Brent crude contract heightened volatility, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
June West Texas Intermediate crude slid by 65 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $48.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange—the lowest settlement price since March 28.
June Brent crude, the global benchmark, lost 38 cents, or 0.7%, to finish at $51.44 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. The June Brent contract will expire at Friday’s settlement, which often adds to trading volatility.
Elsewhere in the energy markets, natural gas futures finished lower, retreating after posting sizable gains in the last two sessions. On its first full trading day, June natural gas fell 3.2 cents, or 1%, to settle at $3.239 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
