Oil Prices Plunge Beyond
11% as Brent Crude Settles at $ 30 a Barrel
17 March 2020
Oil prices fell below $ 30 per barrel
on Monday amid the exacerbation of coronavirus outbreak across the globe
and the erupting fears of a global recession due to the shutdowns
imposed by the various governments to contain the pandemic.
Simultaneously, price war between the
major oil producers Saudi and Russia is erupts after they fail to reach
an agreement on a massive oil production to curb the oversupply amid a
negative impact on the demand caused by a declined economic activity.
Saudi renewed on Monday its intention
to boost its production up-to record levels to grasp a bigger
international market share.
The global benchmark Brent crude
reached $ 30.05 on settlement, a drop of $ 3.80 (11.2%) after a former
lower fall to $ 28.52 touching the lowest levels since Jan 2016.
US West Texas Intermediate crude also
fell by $ 3.03 (9.6%) to close on $ 28.70 per barrel reaching the lowest
levels since Feb 2016.
On the other hand, a technical
meeting, scheduled Wednesday in Vienna, for OPEC and non-OPEC countries
was also cancel in view of the lack of progress in the mediation efforts
between Saudi and Russia following the earlier collapse of their pact
pertaining to oil supply as stated by sources.