Oil prices fell nearly $6 a barrel on Tuesday, the steepest decline in about a month, on fears that fuel demand could soften as global central banks hike rates to fight surging inflation, and as unrest in Iraq failed to dent the OPEC nation's crude exports, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.
Brent crude futures for October settled down $5.78, or 5.5%, at $99.31 a barrel after touching a session low of $97.55 a barrel.
The October contract expires on Wednesday and the more active November contract was at $97.84, down 4.9%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped by $5.37, or 5.5%, to $91.64.
With inflation near double-digit territory in many top economies, central banks could resort to more aggressive interest rate increases, slowing economic growth and fuel demand.
The European Central Bank should include a 75-basis-point interest rate hike among its options for the September policy meeting, Estonian policymaker Madis Muller said on Tuesday.
German inflation in August rose to its highest in almost 50 years, data showed. Hungary's central bank raised its base rate by 100 basis points to 11.75%.
Bets on another oversized Fed rate hike also boosted the dollar. A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated oil more expensive for buyers with other currencies.
