Crude oil prices have fallen below $70 U.S. a barrel, extending a multi-day decline that has brought the commodity to its lowest level since March of this year.
Oil prices have fallen steeply in the wake of the failure of First Republic Bank (FRC), the third regional lender in the U.S. to collapse in the past two months.
Economic data that showed the U.S. labour market cooling and expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 25-basis points today (May 3) have also weighed on crude prices.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, the U.S. standard, was trading at $69.95 U.S. per barrel in early trading on May 3, down 2% from the previous day.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was trading at $73.60 U.S. a barrel, also down about 2% over the past 24 hours.
Crude prices fell to their lowest level of the year in mid-March, with WTI dropping below $67 U.S. a barrel.
In the U.S., nationwide crude inventories contracted by about four million barrels last week and distillate inventories also dropped, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute.
In Russia, there was no sign of a sustained drop in crude flows out of the country, despite its pledge to cut production by 500,000 barrels a day.
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