Crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday after Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to bring down the cost of oil. Meanwhile, data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude oil inventories in the U.S. dipped by 1.0 million barrels in the week ended January 17th, after falling by 2.0 million barrels in the previous week. Street had expected crude oil inventories to decline by 2.1 million barrels. The EIA said at 411.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Benchmark crude oil futures for March fell $0.82 or 1.1 percent to settle at $74.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery dropped $0.71 or 0.9 percent to settle at $78.29 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.