Fears that a global economic downturn will hurt demand weighed on energy markets as oil prices fell to their lowest point since January.
Analysts say that oil markets have recently been a "blood bath".
The price of West Texas Intermediate slid 5% to trade at less than $83 per barrel, its lowest point since January, amid growing recession fears.
The price of international benchmark crude fell below $90 per barrel for the first time in over a month.
Despite some recent bullish developments, including Russia keeping theNord Streampipeline offline, oil prices were not able to rally on Wednesday.
A variety of factors are keeping a lid on prices, says Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli, who points out that Europe is moving aggressively to cut reliance on Russian gas.
There is a threat of price caps, either from the G7 on Russian oil or from the EU on Russian gas, due to Russia turning to alternate buyers for oil and gas.
China's crude oil imports fell 9.4% last month compared to a year ago, as the country's zero-covid policy has led to full or partial lock downs in more than 70 cities.
Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, says that the oil market is a blood bath. He said that the risk of losing Russian energy supplies is no longer keeping oil prices supported. The strong U.S. economy could keep domestic oil prices around $80 per barrel.
The price of oil peaked at nearly $140 per barrel in early March after Western nations imposed sanctions on Russian energy imports. Concerns about a recession have led to a decline in the price of oil, with prices hovering around $90 a barrel in August.
Gas prices in the US are still elevated despite the recent drop in oil prices. The average price of gas has come down a bit in the last two months after hitting a high of $5 per gallon in June. Even though inflation is near 40-year highs, gas prices are unlikely to fall much unless oil prices fall further.
The stock market had a third straight week of losses despite a solid jobs report.
The summer rally in the stock market has come to an end.
The price of oil has fallen below $100 per barrel for the first time.
Analysts predict that oil prices will rebound later in the year.
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