Investing.com -- Crude oil prices settled at 2.7% lower today, as fears fomented about the impact of increasing U.S. shale production will have on the market.
Crude settled at $51.08 per barrel, the lowest level in a week, on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Brent oil settled at $54.04, down 2.58%.
"The petroleum markets have turned lower again in Wednesday trade amid talk that higher oil prices will translate into additional U.S. shale-oil production as a counter-balance to OPEC efforts to trim supply and reduce excess inventories," Tim Evans, Citi Futures' energy futures specialist, said in a note to investors.
A report yesterday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy, indicated that shale production will increase substantially next month in the U.S.
EIA analysts indicate February production will increase to 40,750 barrels per day (bpd) to 4.748 million bpd. Analysts said that for January, shale production was expected to drop by just 5,900 bpd.
Fed Chairman Janet Yellen was making remarks, in San Francisco, after the close of oil futures market, and President Obama gave a presser at the White House, but the remarks did not move petroleum markets today.