In New York, Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) shrank 5.21 percent (about $5) to close operations at $67.61 a barrel after falling to $65.65 during the session.
Across the Atlantic, in the London market, North Sea Brent also closed at $74.81 a barrel, down $2.59 from the previous day.
Brent fell more than 7 percent during the session, local sources said.
Analysts commented that both WTI and Brent, the benchmark crudes in their respective markets, were hit hard by fears of a banking debacle.
They agreed that the cumulative fall in prices since the beginning of the crisis, which was triggered on Friday of the previous week by the collapse of the American Silicon Valley Bank, has increased significantly.
Craig Erlam, an expert at Oanda, estimates that black gold prices are caught up in the pessimism we’re seeing in stock markets.
After months of consolidation, fears about the economy triggered an aggressive slump, he said.
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