NEW YORK — Crude oil prices accelerated their decline Thursday, with the main international benchmark falling about 2 percent and the US equivalent dropping below $90 a barrel.
Now at their lowest levels since 2012, crude prices have been under pressure in recent months. The increase in global demand for oil this year is turning out to be slower because of weaker-than-anticipated growth in China and Europe, leading to growing inventories.
But the sudden drop Thursday was seen as a response to Saudi Arabia's signaling Wednesday to the markets that it was more interested in maintaining market share than in defending prices.
The main source of supply growth continues to be the United States, which now rivals Russia and Saudi Arabia in oil output. This has enabled the oil markets to shrug off potential disruptions to supply. Political instability in countries like Syria and Iraq and even the Ebola outbreak in West Africa all have the potential to disrupt supply, but instead, oil prices have softened.