The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery lost 92 cents to settle at 64.71 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery decreased 87 cents to close at 68.09 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"The record numbers of new infections in India have been making the headlines and fuelling fears that demand may recover more slowly," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Thursday.
Thursday's oil slide came despite data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 8 million barrels during the week ending April 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had estimated the EIA publication to show a decline of 3.9 million barrels for crude stocks.
Latest comments