U.S. crude oil inventories down: API

HOUSTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a decrease of 6.426 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Dec. 2.

Analysts expected a drop of 3.884 million barrels for this week.

The API reported a decline of 7.85 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices fell further on Tuesday as traders grew fearful that central bank policy tightening would induce an economic recession and cripple demand for energy.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery lost 2.68 U.S. dollars, or 3.5 percent, to settle at 74.25 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It marked the lowest front-month contract finish since Dec. 23, 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Brent crude for February delivery dropped 3.33 dollars, or 4 percent, to close at 79.35 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, the lowest finish since January.

"The market is still moving in fear that the Federal Reserve is going to drive the economy into a recession," Phil Flynn, analyst at The Price Futures Group, said in a note on Tuesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, on Sunday decided to stick to its existing policy of reducing oil production by 2 million barrels per day from November until the end of 2023 amid market uncertainties.