September WTI futures shed 76 cents Thursday to settle at $54.47 per barrel. The light crude benchmark traded within a range from $53.77 to $55.33.

Also finishing lower was the October Brent, which lost $1.25 to end the day at $58.23 per barrel.

As a notes, crude oil has been saddled by concerns about a slump in global demand stoked by lackluster economic data from China and Germany as well as “‘recessionary alarm bells.’” This week’s realization that the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note yield had fallen below that of the two-year Treasury Note yield heightened fears of a recession, Steve Blair with the RCG Division of Marex Spectron .

Following the pattern of oil prices, the reformulated gasoline (RBOB) contract declined during Thursday’s trading. September RBOB settled at $1.64 per gallon, reflecting a four-cent loss.

Bucking the trend set by the above commodities, Henry Hub natural gas for September delivery posted a solid gain. Gas futures added nine cents to close at $2.23.

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