Investing.com - U.S. oil futures dropped to the lowest level since June 2012 on Thursday, as global growth concerns persisted and markets awaited the release of U.S. crude oil supply data later in the day.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in November traded at $79.98 a barrel during European afternoon trade, down 1.72$ or 2.10%.
Prices lost 1.54$ or 1.76% on Thursday to settle at $85.77.
Futures were likely to find support at $77.28 a barrel and resistance at $82.45, Wednesday's high.
Oil prices came under pressure as global economic worries deepened this week after China's consumer inflation fell to near five-year lows and U.S. producer prices declined for the first time in more than a year.
Official data released on Wednesday showed that Chinese inflation for September slowed to 1.6% on-year from 2.0% in August, below expectations for a reading of 1.7%.
The weaker than expected data underlined concerns about China's economy and sparked speculation policymakers in Beijing will have to introduce fresh stimulus to meet the government's 7.5% growth target.
In the U.S., data on Wednesday showed that U.S. producer price inflation slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a flat reading in August.
A separate report showed that U.S. retail sales fell 0.3% last month, more than the expected 0.1% slip, while core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, dropped 0.2% in September, confounding expectations for a 0.3% gain.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of New York reported that its manufacturing index tumbled to a six-month low of 6.2 in October from a reading of 27.5 the previous month.
Traders were now turning their attention to additional U.S. economic reports due later Thursday for further indications on the strength of the country's recovery, as well as the weekly report on U.S. crude oil stockpiles.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery dropped 0.80$, or 0.95%, to hit $83.33 a barrel.
The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.35.