Black commodities extended their decline on Wednesday after industry data showed an increase in U.S. crude oil supply last week, and President Donald Trump's statement threatening not to sign the long-awaited Covid-19 stimulus package.
In the Asian session, US WTI crude futures traded 1.3% at $ 46.38 a barrel, while Brent crude fell 1.4% at $ 49.37 a barrel.
Both benchmarks fell nearly 2% on Tuesday, in the second consecutive decline session. Brent crude fell below $ 50 a barrel after the data was released by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
US crude oil inventories rose 2.7 million barrels last week, short of market expectations for a decline of 3.2 million barrels.
This further heightened market concerns over fuel demand which had been weakened by the implementation of stricter restrictions and the affected aviation system following the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK.
Oil prices fell lower after Trump signaled not to sign a $ 900 billion coronavirus stimulus bill, saying he wanted Congress to increase direct payments to Americans.
