Fall in oil price worst since first half of 1997

Brent crude futures fell $1.34 to $44.68 a barrel

Oil prices fell about 3 per cent to a 10-month low in heavy trading on Wednesday, as nagging fears about the global crude glut fed a sell-off that was interrupted only briefly after news of a larger-than-expected drop in US inventories.
 

US crude futures touched a low of $42.13, the lowest intraday level since August 2016. They were at $42.36 at 1:28 pm 1728 GMT, down 2.6 per cent. Since peaking in late February, crude has dropped by more than 20 per cent. Rallies in that time have not been sustained as concern about inventories has prevailed over brief signals