Oil prices slid below $80 a barrel today after China moved to curb bank lending and a report showed an unexpected jump in U.S. inventories of distillates and gasoline.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was down 91 cents to $79.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell $1.73 to settle at $80.79.