2021.06.1719:12:00UTC+00Oil Futures Settle Lower

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar.

The greenback strengthened against other major rivals after Federal Reserve officials projected on Wednesday that interest rates might be hiked hiked by 2023.

The dollar index rose to a two-month high at 92.01 a little past noon, and despite paring some gains subsequently, was still fairly high up at 91.83, gaining 0.77% from Wednesday's close.

The yield on 2-year U.S. Treasury Notes rose to one-year high.

The projection by Federal Reserve officials that interest rates may be hiked by 2023, a year earlier than expected,

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.11 or about 1.5% at $71.04 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down $1.23 or 1.65% at $73.16 a barrel a little while ago.

Data released by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday that showed crude stockpiles fell by 7.36 million barrels last week helped limit oil's downside. The drop in inventories was much more than an expected decline of about 2.5 million barrels.