Oil Market Update

Oil futures fell 4% on Thursday, capping a volatile day of trading that saw the commodity swing by around $4 a barrel in either direction.

Light, sweet crude for delivery in January CLF5, +0.74%  fell $2.36, or 4.2%, to settle at $54.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That was oil’s lowest settlement since May 5, 2009. Futures traded as low as $54.05 and as high as $58.73 a barrel earlier.

Brent oil for February delivery LCOG5, +0.22%  declined $1.91, or 3.1%, to finish at $59.27 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. That was Brent’s lowest settle value since May 19, 2009.