U.S. oil prices settle below $80, at their lowest in over 2 weeks

Oil futures declined Wednesday, with U.S. benchmark prices settling below $80 a barrel – at their lowest in more than two weeks as traders continued to show concern over the outlook for energy demand. A bigger-than-expected weekly decline of 4.6 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories, reported by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, failed to provide a lift to oil prices. May West Texas Intermediate crude
CLK23,
-2.07%
declined by $1.70, or 2.1%, to settle at $79.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month contract prices settled at their lowest since March 31, FactSet data show.