“WTI prices plunged to the lowest level in more than six years after an EIA report showed that U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly rose 2.6 million barrels against market expectations for a small decline”, ANZ bank said on Thursday.

Brent, the global benchmark, fell 94 cents, or 1.9%, to $47.87 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Brent crude lost 3.4 per cent on Wednesday and has now been down for four of the past five sessions.

Crude oil prices hit fresh 6.5-year lows on Wednesday, and the trigger seems to be the most recent U.S. commercial crude oil inventories number reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

If all of these overproduction conditions were not enough to weigh on the price of crude oil, there are still heavy concerns over the lifting of Iran sanctions that would result in a further supply glut from the addition of Iranian oil. Neither EconoTimes nor its third party suppliers shall be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

But Opec has found its position as the world’s so called “swing producer” – a term for a supplier which can increase or decrease output quickly and at minimal cost to meet demand – challenged by the rise of shale oil in the US. The more-active October contract slipped $1.25 to $41.87. Prices touched $41.18, the lowest since March 2009.

Yet, crashing oil prices still have consequences, and according to the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee Minutes, it may be a reason the Fed can’t raise rates.

Analyst Thomas Pugh of Capital Economics said the main reason for the increase in inventories was refinery outages for maintenance and other issues. “If oil is to fall to $40 a barrel, there is nothing to suggest it won’t fall even further”, Fawad Razaqzada, a London-based technical analyst for crude on forex.com, said, predicting 2003 lows of below $30 if the slide did not stop. The EIA’s new price deck expects WTI to average $49 per barrel for 2015, and $54 per barrel in 2016. He added that, although he could see oil prices rebounding in the coming weeks, he thought they would remain low into next year. Diesel futures extended losses to 1.7% to $1.5328 a gallon.