Oil prices dropped to their lowest in almost three months on Wednesday over growing global economic recession fears, which will result in an eventual demand slump.

Posting their largest daily percentage loss since March, both benchmarks have seen the lowest level since April.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $99.78 per barrel at 17.48 a.m. local time (0705 GMT) at a 2.90% decrease after the previous session closed at $102.77 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $96.37 per barrel at the same time with a 3.14% loss, after the previous session closed at $99.50 a barrel.

Experts say the recent volatility in the oil market is due mostly to recession fears.

Citigroup Inc. on Tuesday said crude oil could collapse to $65 a barrel by the end of the year and slump to $45 by end-2023 if a demand-crippling recession hits.

The group said that historically, oil demand goes negative only in the worst global recessions.

Prices also came under the pressure of the US dollar index climbing to its highest level in almost 20 years, adding to the global economic recession fears.

Another supporting factor for downward price movements has been the ending of the strike in the energy sector, as reported by the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG).

The NOG 'proposed compulsory arbitration of the pay dispute', following an announcement on Monday that the unions, which represent the majority of energy workers in the country, called on workers to go on strike due to wage disputes./aa