Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September slid 34 cents to stand at $103.66 a barrel in London midday trade.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for August retreated 49 cents to $88.73 a barrel.

Prices were falling after Bernanke on Tuesday gave a gloomy outlook on the US economy and as he prepared to offer more assessment later Wednesday.

The Fed chief on Tuesday offered a bleak forecast on jobs and growth in the United States — the world’s biggest consumer of oil — and disappointed investors by not clearly signalling that fresh economic stimulus was on the way.

After the US economy grew at a modest rate of around two percent in the first quarter of this year, Bernanke said “available indicators point to a still-smaller gain in the second quarter.”

Despite the gloom, the dollar rose against the European single currency on Wednesday, making dollar-price crude more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies — dampening demand and prices.

Later on Wednesday, the US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes data on American crude oil inventories for the week ending July 10.