Crude oil futures ended marginally lower on Thursday as rising COVID-19 infections led to renewed restrictions on movement in several European countries, raising concerns over a further slowdown in energy demand. However, downside remained capped after US government data showed a better-than-expected weekly decline in domestic crude supplies. The Energy Information Administration reported that US crude inventories fell by 3.8 million barrels for the week ended October 9. The data, which was delayed by a day because of Monday’s US federal holiday, followed a 500,000-barrel increase in the previous week.
Crude oil futures for November fell 8 cents or 0.2 percent to settle at $40.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent crude declined 16 cents or 0.4 percent to settle at $43.16 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.