Influenced by the fall in the stock market, oil prices, which were rising in the morning, ended lower on Thursday, while investors are worried about the evolution of the US economy next year.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in the same month fell by 1.02% to $77.49, while its equivalent, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February, fell by 0.84% to $80.98. Indeed, a much larger than expected reduction in crude oil inventories in the United States initially pushed up oil prices.

Thus, according to a consensus established by the Bloomberg agency, commercial crude oil reserves in the United States fell by 5.9 million barrels during the week ending December 16, while analysts expected an increase of 2.5 million. Wall Street investors are increasingly worried about the attitude of the American central bank (Fed), which will maintain an austere monetary policy at the risk of plunging the economy into recession to curb inflation.

Furthermore, the oil market has been under pressure from stock market sales due to fears of an upcoming recession, especially considering that the Fed will continue to raise rates and that they will remain at a high level for some time.