The downward spiral in oil prices is accelerating as a surge in crude production from a turbocharged US petroleum industry runs into weaker global economic growth.
Crude prices slid 7.7 per cent on Friday, their largest one-day drop since July 2015, and are now down by nearly a third since the start of October. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate futures, closed at $50.42 a barrel—its lowest level in over a year.
As economic growth outside the US has flagged, producers and traders are beginning to worry that demand for crude will also decline. In export-dependent Germany, a
Crude prices slid 7.7 per cent on Friday, their largest one-day drop since July 2015, and are now down by nearly a third since the start of October. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate futures, closed at $50.42 a barrel—its lowest level in over a year.
As economic growth outside the US has flagged, producers and traders are beginning to worry that demand for crude will also decline. In export-dependent Germany, a