West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US crude, settled down $1.24, or 1.7%, at $71.93 per barrel, adding to its 5.5% decline over the past three sessions.
Earlier on Wednesday, WTI sank to $71.47, its lowest since a December bottom of $71.41. Year-to-date, the US crude benchmark is up 0.1%, after rallying 22% at one point.
UK-origin Brent finished the New York session down $1.15, or 1.5%, at $76.05 per barrel, adding to its 4.7% tumble over three prior sessions.
Earlier in the day, Brent tumbled to a November low of $74.79. Year-to-date, the global crude benchmark is down 1.5%, after running up some 20% earlier.
The freefall in crude prices continued despite the US Energy Information Administration reporting an across-the-board draw in crude and fuel stockpiles for the just-ended week.
Crude inventories fell by 4.649 million barrels during the week that ended on August 16, reversing the prior week’s build of 1.357 million, which itself came after a decline of some 30 million barrels over six straight weeks.
Gasoline stockpiles fell 1.606 million barrels for the week to August 16, adding to the prior week’s draw of 2.894 million. Distillate stockpiles tumbled by 3.312 million, after the previous week’s deficit of 1.673 million.
Gasoline is the primary motor fuel in the United States and makes up the largest component of the country’s energy mix.
“The market is raising questions about a major downward revision in US jobs numbers [that] may suggest that the Fed was behind the curve in rate cuts,” Phil Flynn, energy analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago, said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US Labor Department said it has revised down by 818,000 the jobs growth it originally reported for the 12 months to March, citing a “statistical error.”
Prior to the revision, initial payroll figures indicated an addition of some 2.9 million total jobs during the year to March, or an average of 242,000 per month. With the revision, the monthly pace of growth is at around 174,000 - still robust though a moderation from the post-COVID-19 peak of job growth, economists said.