The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost 1.96 U.S. dollars, or 1.9 percent, to settle at 102.26 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery decreased 43 cents, or 0.4 percent, to close at 106.92 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Oil participants continued to weigh global supply tightness as well as risks on the demand side in the case of a possible recession.
Traders also parsed the newly released U.S. fuel stockpiles data which painted a mixed picture.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that the nation's commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.4 million barrels during the week ending July 15. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights had forecast a decline of 200,000 barrels in U.S. crude stocks.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories fell by 1.3 million barrels.
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