emirates7 - Crude oil benchmarks slid by nearly 2% during early Wednesday trading, continuing a multi-session downward trend.

Brent crude dropped $1.78, or 2%, to trade at $86.80 per barrel by 00:27 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate moved down $1.49, or 1.8%, to $80.87 a barrel.

The early weakness follows Tuesday's heavy selling pressure, which saw both major contracts post losses exceeding 3%.