Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday on reports several shipping companies have decided to schedule their container vessels to travel via the Suez Canal and Red Sea again. Meanwhile, the release of weekly crude inventory reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) are delayed by a day due to Christmas holiday on Monday. EIA will release its inventory data on Thursday.
Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery fell $1.46 or 1.9 percent to settle at $74.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery was down by $1.42 or 1.8 percent to settle at $79.65 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.