WTI Oil Price Records Its Lowest Point in 18 Years

Oil markets earlier took a nosedive due to the ongoing pandemic, with quarantine measures and health risks resulting in a severe economic downturn in multiple countries across the world.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also known as Texas light sweet, has dropped to $19.59, marking an 18-year low. The crude was trading $28.18 last week, but the price fell dramatically on Thursday 9 April and after several days of rebound continued to decline.

In the meantime, Brent Crude is trading at $28.75 in London, and Russian Urals is trading at $28.55, while OPEC basket goes for $21.18.

Specialist Michael McDonnell is reflected in a screen at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 20, 2015.

© AP Photo / Richard Drew

The news comes as the International Energy Agency forecast that global oil demand will sink by a record 9.3 million bpd year-on-year in 2020. The forecast also noted that prices are expected to rebound slowly in the second half of the year.

OPEC Crisis

The tensions around the oil markets escalated in March when Riyadh flooded the market with cheap oil due to the failure of OPEC+ to agree on production cuts.

On Sunday, however, OPEC and non-OPEC countries reached a new agreement to slash oil production. According to the pact, in May, oil production will be cut by 7.7 million barrels a day for six months, until 31 December. Starting in January next year, output will be reduced by 5.8 million barrels per day until April 2022.