Crude oil prices dropped to their lowest level in a week in Tuesday’s trading, mostly because investors believe demand from China and Germany will decline following negative economic news from the two countries.
Prices declined nearly 1% as investors were still cautious about of an interest rate decision coming from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
West Texas Intermediate fell 63 cents or 0.9% to settle at $70.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent futures dropped 72 cents or 1.0% and finished the day at $73.19 a barrel, the lowest close for Brent since Dec. 10.
Brent futures fell 72 cents, or 1.0%, to settle at $73.19 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 63 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $70.08. It also cut the premium of Brent over WTI to a 12-weeklow of $3.54 a barrel based on the February contracts, according to Reuters.
Natural gas closed up 9 cents or 2.92% to settle at $3.31.
Tuesday was the second down day this week for Oklahoma energy stocks as most finished the day in negative territory. A 5% decline was recorded by LSB Industries.