WTI crude slumps 2.5%, Brent slips below $93

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices deepened losses on Thursday as investors tracked developments between Russia and Ukraine, and amid fears of a decline in demand.

The international benchmark Brent crude was trading down 2.31% at $92.62 per barrel, at 1.15 pm Makkah time.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2.41% to $91.40 a barrel.

Crude inventories in the US rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week to Feb. 11 to 411.5 million barrels, according to latest data from the Energy Information Administration.

Meanwhile, Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, reported that Moscow-backed separatists claimed that Ukrainian forces had violated the ceasefire rules.

Russia, for its part, has insisted that it is serious about easing the current tensions, denying several times any plans to invade Ukraine. But the United States maintained that Moscow will continue to strengthen its military presence at the Ukrainian border.