Oil prices fall the most in 3 weeks after Fed decision

Crude oil prices on the world market fell sharply, hitting a three-week low after the US Federal Reserve (FED) decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

Oil prices fell the most after the Fed's decision not to raise interest rates.

US oil prices fell nearly 5% as US energy companies cut rigs for a third straight week, the latest sign that falling prices are causing drillers to delay plans to resume drilling that were announced months ago.

According to oil services company Baker Hughes, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the US decreased by 8 rigs in the week ending September 18, after decreasing by 23 rigs in the previous two weeks, bringing the current total to 644 rigs.

The rig count fell amid growing concerns about the outlook for global energy demand and turmoil in major economies.

The US central bank has warned about the health of the global economy, while there are continuing signs that the world's biggest crude producers will continue to pump at high volumes.

According to a US government report, the country's oil production has fallen in recent weeks to about 9.1 million barrels per day last week from an average of 9.6 million barrels per day from late May to mid-July.

The light sweet crude oil contract for October delivery on the Nymex (WTI) closed on September 18 at $44.68/barrel, down $2.22/barrel, or 4.7% - marking the sharpest decline since September 1 in both price and percentage.

Meanwhile, Brent oil futures for November delivery on the ICE Futures exchange fell $1.61 a barrel (3.3%) to $47.47 a barrel, bringing the total decline for the week to 3.2%.

However, the average oil price this week stood at 46 USD/barrel, still higher than the 45 USD of last week./.

According to VOV