WTI oil price hits lowest level for 18 years

The benchmark WTI oil contract extended its slide hitting the lowest level since 2002, with output cuts planned by producers seen as not enough to offset a coronavirus-fuelled slump in demand.

London: The benchmark WTI oil contract extended its slide Wednesday, hitting the lowest level since 2002, with output cuts planned by producers seen as not enough to offset a coronavirus-fuelled slump in demand.

WTI tumbled to $19.20 per barrel, while Brent North Sea crude was down at USD 28.38.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also said that global oil demand will fall by a record amount this year as lockdown measures introduced to curb the coronavirus outbreak bring the economy to a virtual halt.

For 2020 overall, demand will fall by 9.3 million barrels per day (mbd), with April alone down 29 mbd from a year earlier to levels last seen in 1995, the IEA said in its latest monthly report.

However, measures taken to bolster the global economy and to reduce oil supply should allow a "gradual" recovery in the second half of the year, it said.

(AFP Report)