Crude Oil Tips: Crude oil futures plunged by more than 1.7 per cent in the domestic market on Tuesday while suffering the biggest two-day slump in a month amidst fading hopes of a coordinated output freeze by major oil producers while investors were jittery ahead of weekly US inventory data which was likely to show a 2.7 million barrels rise in crude stockpiles in the world’s biggest fuel consuming nation, exacerbating fears of a global supply glut.

Iran’s refusal to participate in talks between OPEC producers and Russia over an output freeze to help stabilize prices and ease oversupplies, has dampened optimism of such a plan, raising fears that the global oil market may remain oversupplied for some more time.

Meanwhile, with some of the pipeline disruptions in Nigeria and Iraq, having been repaired, that had been attributed to OPEC’s production decline in February, and output in Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia rising, the threat of a worsening glut in the energy commodity remains real.

Sentiment also took a hit from tepid US retail sales data which signaled underlying softness in the world’s biggest economy, dimming the demand outlook for the fuel. US retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in February from January when they declined a revised 0.4 per cent.

Oil may retreat today after the API showed a 1.5 million barrels rise in US crude inventories last week.

At the MCX, Crude oil futures, for the March 2016 contract, closed at Rs 2,457 per barrel, down by 1.72 per cent, after opening at 2,483, against the previous close price of Rs 2,500. It touched an intraday low of Rs 2,430.