Oil prices plunge by a third after Saudi Arabia launches output war – By Dmitry Zhdannikov (Reuters) / March 9 2020
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices lost as much as a third of their value on Monday in their biggest daily rout since the 1991 Gulf War after Saudi Arabia signalled it would hike output to win market share when the coronavirus has already left the market oversupplied.
Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices and made plans to ramp up crude output next month after Russia balked at making a further steep output cut proposed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilise oil markets.
Brent LCOc1 crude futures were down 22% at $37.05 a barrel by 1000 GMT, after early dropping by as much as 31% to $31.02, their lowest since Feb. 12, 2016.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell by more than 24%, to $33.20 a barrel, after initially falling 33% to $27.34, also the lowest since Feb. 12, 2016.
The U.S. benchmark’s biggest decline on record was in 1991 when it also fell by a third.
Continue to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-prices-plunge-by-a-third-after-saudi-arabia-launches-output-war-idUSKBN20V131
