The latest drop came after members of OPEC, who had gathered for an emergency meeting in Cairo at the weekend, failed to agree to cut output quotas, despite tumbling demand.
That surge, which lifted benchmark oil prices to a 26-month high of more than $90 a barrel on Tuesday, is creating a dilemma for the Opec oil cartel, which meets on Saturday.
Indeed, before Wednesday's meeting, some OPEC members had publicly called for a cut in output, worried that a slowing U. S. economy could depress oil demand and push prices lower.