Oil declines

THE EDITOR: I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but US oil prices plummeted seven per cent last Tuesday to US$53.43 a barrel. This is the lowest price since October 2017.

In times of crises, all assets correlate. Crude is caught up in the flight from equities. In seven weeks crude has gone from spiking to nosediving into a bear market.

A bear market is a period where the prices of commodities fall by twenty percent or more. It has nothing to do with either Carib or Stag, sorry.

Fears of a new supply glut and weakening demand have wiped out thirty per cent of its value since hitting a four-year high of US$76 a barrel in last month. The November 13 decline of 7.1 per cent was the worst in three years.

The death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi could have far-reaching implications. OPEC is scheduled to meet next month.

Petrotrin past, present or future note well. The oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.

AV RAMPERSAD, PRINCES TOWN