Saudi Arabia's Million-Barrel Plan to Stop Crude Oil's Price Slide
This has been an absolutely brutal couple of weeks for oil markets. Crude oil futures have fallen every trading day for more than a week. If Friday's sell-off continues -- Brent crude futures were down 3.3% in afternoon trading -- oil will have fallen 15% in only eight days. Prices are now on course to fall below $50 per barrel for the first time since 2017.
The ongoing bearishness in the crude market has been fueled by the international spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Energy industry experts now expect global oil demand will fall this quarter as a result. Stock markets are slumping too -- the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell by more than 10% in record time over the past week on increased fears that the global economy is headed for recession. Over the past week, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explorer & Producer ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) has declined by 19% and is near its all-time low.
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Source Fool.com
