Oil Prices Fall Sharply as WTI, Brent and OPEC Basket Slide Over 2%

Crude oil prices fell broadly on Wednesday, with major global benchmarks extending losses amid renewed volatility across energy markets.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined to $67.99 per barrel, down $1.51 or 2.17%.

Brent crude dropped to $71.13, falling $1.82 or 2.49%, reflecting weaker sentiment in global demand expectations.

The downturn was even more pronounced in some regional benchmarks. Murban crude slid 5.25% to $65.39, marking one of the steepest declines among major grades.

The OPEC Basket also weakened significantly, falling 3.60% to $77.37, while WTI Midland dropped to $67.92, down 2.43%.

In natural gas markets, prices edged lower to $3.203 per million British thermal units, a decline of 2.20%, reflecting broader weakness in energy commodities.

Refined products showed mixed performance. Gasoline prices rose 1.56% to $2.940, while heating oil slipped slightly by 0.39% to $3.217.

The Indian Basket crude benchmark recorded the steepest decline, falling 6.07% to $70.71, highlighting sharper pressure on Asian-linked crude pricing.

Analysts typically attribute such synchronized declines across crude benchmarks to shifting expectations around global demand, inventory trends, and macroeconomic signals, although no single catalyst dominated trading in Wednesday’s session.