Saudi Arabia’s oil minister left oil markets confused about what direction, if any, the kingdom and OPEC will take to stop oil prices’ free fall, and oil futures traded at fresh multiyear lows on Thursday. The decline was so pronounced that a surprise larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories didn’t move the needle, and New York-traded oil futures settled at their lowest since Sept. 21, 2010. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December fell $2.97, or 3.9%, to $74.21 a barrel. Futures had settled Wednesday at a three-year low. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $2.46, or 3.1%, to finish at $77.92 a barrel. That was Brent’s lowest settlement since Sept. 9, 2010.

In his first comments in months, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he sees no “price war.” Saudi’s oil policy has been constant and has not changed today, he said. Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil company, prices oil according to a host of factors including the state of the market, refinery margins, and long-term relationships with customers. “Talk of a price war is a sign of misunderstanding—deliberate or otherwise—and has no basis in reality,” he said. Saudi Arabia is the largest producing OPEC member and the world’s No. 1 crude exporter. Al-Naimi “left his country’s attitude toward the OPEC meeting due to take place in two weeks entirely unclear,” which caused a further slide in oil prices on Thursday, analysts at Commerzbank said in a note. “All he talked about was wanting to have a stable oil market and steady prices and not wishing to engage in a price war. In other words, everything would be fine in al-Naimi’s eyes if the price were to stabilize at its present level,” the analysts added.

OPEC reported Wednesday a slight decline in production from its member countries, but that drop was matched by increases in production elsewhere. Traders have been debating whether OPEC will announce a cut in production when it meets Nov. 27 in Vienna, boosting futures prices.

Earlier Thursday, the Energy Information Administration said U.S. oil supplies decreased 1.7 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 7. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decline of 500,000 barrels. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.8 million, and supplies of distillates decreased by 2.8 million barrels, the EIA said. The analysts surveyed by Platts had expected gasoline supplies to decrease 280,000 barrels and distillates stockpiles to decrease 1.6 million barrels. The report was a day late due to the Veterans Day holiday.