July 20 Reuters Oil prices slumped more than 1 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by global central bank efforts to tame inflation and ahead of expected builds in U.S. crude inventories as product demand weakens.

Brent crude prices for September fell 1.50, or 1.4, to 105.85 a barrel by 0645 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude for August slipped 1.40, or 1.3, to 102.82 per barrel. The WTI contract will expire later on Wednesday.

The more active September WTI contract was at 99.09 a barrel, down 1.65.

Oil prices whipsawed in the previous session, caught in a tugofwar between supply fears due to Western sanctions on Russia and pressures on indications from central bankers that they will raise interest rates to combat inflation.

Both contracts settled about 1 higher on Tuesday on tight supplies globally which have also kept the prompt Brent intermonth spreads in wide backwardation at about 4.40 a barrel . Frontmonth prices are higher than those in future months in a backwardated market, indicating tight supplies.

On Friday, open interest in New York Mercantile Exchange futures fell to their lowest since September 2015 as investors cut risky assets like commodities, worried that the Federal Reserve will keep raising U.S. interest rates.

People have been switching out of Delta 1 products just being long the futures or long via the index into options because of the sharp pullback, Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a note.

They…