Crude Oil Closes Below $100 for First Time Since July

Crude oil finished trading at $99.68 a barrel Oct. 21, declining $1.43 to the lowest level since July 2 as the Energy Information Administration announced supplies increased, Bloomberg News reported.

Supplies increased 4 million barrels to 374.5 million for the week ending Oct. 11, the highest level in three months, according to EIA.

“One hundred is something of a psychological mark,” Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich told Bloomberg. “We still have a bearish outlook due to the increasing production in the U.S. Demand is not expected to rise dramatically,” he said.

Output increased last month to the highest level since 1989 as the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlocked supplies trapped in shale formations, Bloomberg reported.