The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery dropped 18 cents, or 0.24 percent, to settle at 76.16 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery lost 1.02 dollars, or 1.21 percent, to close at 83.05 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The pullback came as recent comments from Federal Reserve officials have stoked fears of even tighter monetary policy going forward.
"Traders worry that additional rate hikes from the Fed will put too much pressure on the economy and hurt demand for oil," Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire, said on Tuesday.
Also weighing on oil was a stronger U.S. dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.31 percent to 104.1723 in late trading on Tuesday. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. currency.
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