prices for the us oil benchmark entered a bear market tuesday after finishing more than 20 below their settlement of 12370 a barrel on march 8 which was the highest finish since august 2008 oil prices continued their selloff amid renewed covidrelated shutdowns in china while peace talks continued between russia and ukraine said marshall steeves energy markets analyst at sp global commodity insights the organization of the petroleum exporting countries meanwhile left its supply and demand forecast under assessment in a monthly report issued tuesday shining a light on the downside risk to the global economy from the war in ukraine he said west texas intermediate crude for april delivery clj22 fell 657 or 64 to settle at 9644 a barrel on the new york mercantile exchange