Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday under pressure from signals of weakening gasoline demand in the U.S.

The price of September futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures Exchange was $102.29 per barrel on Thursday, down $4.63 (4.33%) from the close of the previous session.

At a certain point in trading, the price of Brent dropped more than 5% to $101.5 per barrel.

The price of WTI crude futures for September at the electronic trading on NYMEX by that time was $95.25 per barrel, which is $4.63 (4.64%) lower than the closing price of the previous session.

The day before the US Department of Energy’s report showed a 3.5 mn barrel increase in gasoline inventories last week to 228.4 million barrels. Meanwhile, average gasoline consumption in the United States over the past four weeks showed that the rise in fuel prices has limited consumption to the levels of two years ago, Bloomberg noted.

“Demand for gasoline in the U.S. is not very strong, even though it’s peak consumption season,” noted Zhaojin Futures Co. analyst Gao Jian. Gao Jian. — As the auto season ends soon and economic growth slows, the market should be aware that demand for petroleum products will decline.”

Oil prices have been under pressure since mid-June amid growing risks of a recession in the world economy due to monetary policy tightening by global central banks, writes Trading Economics.

Traders also keep an eye on the situation around the Nord Stream pipeline. The operator of the pipeline, Nord Stream AG said on Thursday that supplies of Russian gas through it resumed after technical works lasted since July 11.

Meanwhile, Britain decided to impose a ban on coal imports from Russia in August and on oil imports in late December, Downing Street reported Thursday. “An amendment is passed that bans imports of oil and petroleum products, coal and gold. It also prohibits direct or indirect purchases, shipments of these goods,” the clarification, published Thursday, said.