In the early morning of the 7th Beijing time, U.S. crude oil futures closed down on Wednesday, and the price of natural gas futures fell sharply. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will increase fuel supplies to Europe, and gas futures fell in response on Wednesday.

The day before, concerns about tight energy supplies pushed gas futures prices to their highest level since late 2008.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories rose for the second week in a row, putting pressure on crude oil futures prices.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said, “Every drop in crude oil futures will be a buying opportunity for energy traders because the US will not increase production significantly, and economic activity is expected to pick up next year.”

“Despite Putin's comments, the energy crisis from Europe to Asia is far from over,” he added.

The price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTI) futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.50, or 1.9%, to close at $77.43 per barrel, the first decline in five trading days. The price of this futures on Tuesday hit the highest closing price since late October 2014.

The price of gas futures for November delivery fell 64 cents, or 10.1%, to close at $5.675 per million British calorimeters. The futures closed at 6.312 US dollars/million British pound on Tuesday, the highest closing price since December 2008.