U.S. oil futures drop below $80 barrel to settle at lowest since January

Oil futures declined Friday, with U.S. prices dropping below $80 a barrel to settle at their lowest since January. “Economic turmoil is putting oil on track for its first quarterly loss in two years as the market focuses on the potential coming recession inspired by aggressive Federal Reserve policy, and is not focused currently on the undersupplied supply squeeze that is facing the world this winter,” Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group, in a Friday report. November WTI crude fell $4.75, or 5.7%, to settle at $78.74 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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