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Brent crude futures lost $5.13, or 4.8%, to $101.79 a barrel by
1039 GMT after slipping 0.4% in the previous session. U.S. West
Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $5.05, or 5.06%, at
$94.83 after a 1.9% drop on Wednesday.
Oil futures trading volumes have been thin and prices volatile
as traders have to square weaker energy demand with tighter
supply resulting from the loss of Russian barrels after the
country's invasion of Ukraine.
The European Central Bank is set to join other central banks in
raising interest rates, focusing on fighting runaway inflation
rather than the economic downturn, which can weigh on oil
demand. An announcement is due at 1215 GMT.
European stocks, which often move in tandem with oil prices,
also dipped ahead of the rate decision. [MKTS/GLOB]
U.S. gasoline inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels last week,
government data showed on Wednesday, far exceeding analyst
forecasts. [EIA/S]
"U.S. gasoline demand is struggling to shift into top gear
during the peak summer driving season," said PVM analyst Stephen
Brennock.
The Bank of Japan projected inflation would exceed its target
this year in fresh forecasts issued on Thursday, but the central
bank maintained ultra-low interest rates.
Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) on Wednesday said that crude
production had resumed at several oilfields after the lifting of
force majeure on oil exports last week.
On the natural gas front, Gazprom resumed flows via the Nord
Stream 1 pipeline that supplies more than a third of Russian gas
exports to the European Union.
However, one of Canada's major oil export arteries, the Keystone
pipeline, was operating at reduced rates for a third day on
Wednesday, operator TC Energy said.
(Additional Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Stephanie
Kelly in New YorkEditing by Jason Neely and David Goodman)
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