Forexpros – Crude oil futures slumped to a two-day low on Thursday, amid mounting fears over Greece’s debt crisis and after the Federal Reserve cut its U.S. growth forecast, raising concerns over future demand prospects from the world’s largest crude consumer.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD91.72 a barrel during European morning trade, retreating 0.86%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.5% to trade at USD90.91 a barrel, the lowest price since November 1.
Concerns over a Greek debt default intensified after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou Wednesday that Athens will surrender all European aid if it votes against the bailout package agreed upon last week.
European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker said earlier Thursday that euro zone leaders were working on a possible exit of Greece from the single currency bloc.
“This is not my favored scenario. I would like Greece to stay on board but Greece must fulfill its obligations,” he said.
Crude prices came under further pressure after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its growth forecasts for the U.S. economy for next year and estimated unemployment will average between 8.5% to 8.7% in the final quarter of 2012.
Speaking at a post-policy meeting press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that economic growth was “frustratingly slow” and “very unsatisfactory.”
Weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.8 million barrels last week, above expectations for a 1.2 million barrel gain.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 1.4 million barrels, confounding expectations for a 0.9 million barrel drop, raising concerns over a slowdown in demand from the world’s largest oil consumer.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery shed 0.37% to trade at USD108.94 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD17.22 a barrel.
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