Crude Oil Futures Fall On Bernanke Comments

U.S. oil was trading $2.06 lower at $82.76 a barrel by 9:46 p.m. Thursday EDT, Reuters reported. Brent crude dropped $1.52 to $98.41 a barrel.

Bernanke's failure to signal any new stimulus on the way for the U.S. economy, in remarks overnight to a congressional panel, took the steam out of equity and oil markets.

If Fed Chairman Bernanke became increasingly concerned about the recovery following the disappointing May jobs report - as markets have - he didn't show it today in his testimony on the economic outlook,'' Paul Edelstein at IHS Global Insight told AFP.

Oil prices had been trading sharply higher, fueled by China's decision to lower key interest rates as growth slows in the world's biggest energy-consuming country.

The price of oil has fallen sharply in the past three months, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude, down from $110 a barrel at the beginning of March on concerns about a global economic slowdown.