Oil prices reversed gains on Wednesday, turning lower during mid-morning trading on Wall Street as worries about a global recession linger.
Brent crude futures slid $1.28, or 1.25%, to $101.49 U.S. per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined $1.49, or 1.5%, to $98.01 per barrel.
In developments overseas, Norway’s government on Tuesday intervened to end a strike in the petroleum sector that had cut oil and gas output, ending a stalemate that could have worsened Europe’s energy crunch.
By Saturday, the strike would have cut daily gas exports by 1,117,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe), or 56% of daily gas exports, while 341,000 of barrels of oil would have been lost, one lobbyists said.
Worries about a recession, however, have continued to weigh on markets. By some early estimates, the world’s largest economy may have shrunk in the three months from April through June. That would be the second straight quarter of contraction, considered the definition of a technical recession.
More G10 central banks raised interest rates in June than in any month for at least two decades, Reuters calculations showed. With inflation at multi-decade highs, the pace of policy-tightening is not expected to let up in the second half of 2022.