Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday, magnifying previous session’s losses, amid worries about the outlook for energy demand from China. Further, oil prices were also weighed down by uncertainty over the future course of interest rates and the prospect of a possible downgrade of several U.S. lenders by Fitch Ratings. Besides, oil prices rose despite data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude stockpiles fell by 5.960 million barrels in the week ended August 11, as against expectations for a decline of about 2.3 million barrels. Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles were up 0.296 million barrels last week, as against forecast for a drw of 0.473 million barrels.
Benchmark crude oil futures for September delivery fell $1.61 or about 2 percent to settle at $79.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery dropped $1.04 or1.23 percent to settle at $83.45 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.