Crude futures plunged ahead of the market settle Thursday as equity markets tested session lows in midafternoon trading. ICE February Brent settled $2.31 lower at $52.16/b and NYMEX February WTI was down $1.61/b at market close. US stock indexes, which had been trading lower throughout Thursday’s session, plunged to fresh lows just ahead of the market settle. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down roughly 1.6% in the final minutes of oil trading on Thursday. But oil price declines slowed in after-market trading as equity markets trended toward even later in the afternoon. The outsized declines in Brent prices narrowed the contract’s premium compared with US grades. The ICE WTI/Brent spread fell to around minus $7.60/b at market settle, putting the contract on pace to close at the narrowest spread since August. Oilgram News […]