Brent crude futures tumbled 3%, down from the level of $80 a barrel, while US oil futures lost $3 to $77.75 a barrel before closing trading, Wednesday.

Oil fell, after a report showed that the United States reduced strategic petroleum reserve stocks by 3.2 million barrels last week.

The Energy Information Administration said: The strategic reserve stock fell to 606.15 million barrels, bringing the stockpile to its lowest level since June 2003.

According to the Energy Information Administration, US oil stocks (other than the strategic reserve) fell by 2.1 million barrels last week, against expectations of an increase of 1.4 million barrels. In contrast, crude stocks in Cushing rose for the first time since the first of October.

“The tight supply in the oil market will remain in the short term, which would give support to prices,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank.

Jeremy Weir, CEO of Trafigura Group, said that the tight supply in the global oil markets is due to the fact that demand is returning to pre-pandemic levels.