Oil prices in the U.S. slipped below the benchmark price of $90 per barrel during trading on Wednesday, as discouraging economic news from Europe raised doubts about demand, according to MarketWatch.
The euro zone continues to struggle with the latest twist in the sovereign debt crisis, as Spain moves seemingly inevitably toward requesting bailout aid. The country's bond yields rose past the 6 percent threshold on Wednesday, a level that has forced several other nations to request aid in recent years.
Meanwhile, anti-austerity demonstrations have restarted in Greece, immediately on the heels of protests in roiling Spain.
"No solution is in sight for the euro zone crisis," Carston Fritsch, an oil analyst for Commerzbank, told Reuters. "It is impossible to make financial reforms in the face of such strong opposition from the people."
The only positive news for oil prices at the moment is that oil stocks fell by around 500,000 barrels, rather than rising by an expected 1.5 million barrels.
At 1:33 p.m. New York time, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.16 percent to $89.40 per barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 1 percent to $109.34 per barrel.
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