Oil futures fell about 4 percent on Thursday as a bigger-than-expected increase in the Bank of England’s key interest rate fueled concerns about the economy and fuel demand, which outweighed support from a sudden U.S. cut in oil supplies, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures fell $2.98, or 3.9%, to settle at $74.14 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $3.02, or 4.2%, at $69.51 a barrel.

The benchmarks reversed gains in the previous session, which saw U.S. corn and soybean prices rise to multi-month highs, raising expectations that a short crop could reduce the biofuel mix and boost oil demand.

The Bank of England unexpectedly raised interest rates by half a percentage point to combat persistent inflation. It was the central bank’s 13th consecutive rate hike.

Higher interest rates could slow economic growth and reduce demand for oil.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said two more interest rate hikes of 0.25 percentage points each before the end of the year was a “pretty good guess”.

“We’re stuck in a trading range, but prices are being held back by concerns about the economy, the economy as a whole,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. (News.ro)