The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost 52 cents, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 95.78 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery decreased 47 cents, or nearly 0.5 percent, to close at 99.10 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Front-month prices for both the U.S. and the global crude standards settled at their lowest since April, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Appreciating U.S. dollar presented a headwind to oil prices. The greenback resumed its rally on Thursday, charting new 24-year highs against the Japanese yen and pinning the euro close to parity, as surging U.S. inflation fueled bets on a more aggressive Federal Reserve rate hiking cycle. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. dollar.
Meanwhile, traders continued to worry that rapid central bank tightening would push up risk of a recession, hurting demand for energy.
In its closely-watched monthly report released Wednesday, the International Energy Agency trimmed its demand forecast for 2022 and 2023, and warned of great uncertainty regarding the outlook for oil markets.
"A worsening macroeconomic outlook and fears of recession are weighing on market sentiment, while there are ongoing risks on the supply side," said the Paris-based energy watchdog.
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