Oil futures settled below $ 94 a barrel on Thursday, as comments from European Central Bank President about downside risks to the economic recovery of the region raised concerns about energy demand.
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Prices also fell ahead of the nonfarm payrolls report due Friday, which ran for clues about the pace of recovery in the U.S.
Crude oil futures for May delivery shed 0.23% CLK3 $ 1.19, or 1.3%, to settle at $ 93.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The price, which closed at its lowest level since March 21 have posted a loss of two sessions of 4.1%.
Jim Purpuri and Bucky Walters are part of a group of New Jersey surfers Seaside Heights helped make a surfing destination. Both are rebuilding the damage for the sand, which also destroyed Casino Pier. Video by Jennifer Weiss.
The contract settled at $ 94.45 $ 2.74 a barrel on Wednesday, hurt by a higher than expected increase in crude supplies in the U.S. last week and a slowdown in growth, private payrolls.
Facts oil inventories on Wednesday appeared to be "the straw that broke the camel for this recent spike" in oil, said Matt Smith, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric in Louisville, Kentucky
After Thursday's data-poor jobless claims - Hot on the heels of a weak ADP report on Wednesday, and ahead of NFP Friday - combined with pessimistic comments "from ECB President Mario Draghi to send crude oil lower spiral said.
In the monthly press conference of the ECB, Draghi acknowledged that the recovery in the second half of the year, is still at risk of being thrown off course.
Meanwhile, both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept rates at historic lows.
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The Bank of England and European Central Bank reaffirmed the need for ongoing accommodative monetary policy to support their respective economies, the derailment more, Smith said. That probably fueled worries about energy demand.
In Japan, the nation's central bank pledged to achieve an inflation target of 2% in two years and announced plans to increase purchases of government debt at a rate of 50 billion yen ($ 530,000,000,000).
0.53% Yen USDJPY moved sharply lower, support ICE dollar index DXY 0.07%. But later the index was lower than 82,689 from 82,712 seen on Wednesday night in North America as markets awaited data on nonfarm payrolls United States due Friday and the euro gained more ground against the greenback .
Refineries ramp up production
Weak oil prices have also come to the back of increasing global oil production, a rise in utilization rates of U.S. refineries and lackluster demand for transportation fuels, according to Alan Herbst, a director in the Consultative Group utilis.
The Energy Information Administration U.S. reported Wednesday utilization rate of 84.1% of capacity for the week ending March 29, compared with 83.1% the previous week.
The refineries are increasing gasoline inventories before the summer driving season, Herbst said.
Supplies of about 389 million U.S. barrels are also found in its highest level since 1990, according to EIA data.
In Nymex, gasoline for May delivery fell 0.12% RBK3 1.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 2.90 a gallon, while heating oil for the same stay HOK3 months 0.29% almost 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $ 2.96 a gallon.
At the retail level, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $ 3.636 below $ 3.64 yesterday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The prices are also down about 10 cents from a month ago and 29 cents below the level a year ago.
Reduced tensions in the Middle East and worries about lackluster economic activity in the Far East are also playing a role in the decline in oil prices, Herbst said, adding that he hopes to see the May crude soften for another $ 1 to $ 1.50 to $ 91.50 per barrel to $ 92 in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, natural gas May NGK13 0.18% set at 5 cents, or 1.2%, to U.S. $ 3.95 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures briefly turned lower after the EIA reported Thursday a drop 94000000000 cubic feet in the U.S. inventory. Analysts polled by Platts expected a decline of between 90 billion cubic feet and 94 billion.
Operators may be anticipating weaker data in the future, said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures, but the data was clearly favorable compared to the increase of 4 million cubic feet seen during the same period a year ago.
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