Compared to the previous session, on Friday, the barrel of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) depreciated 10 percent on Monday.
The barrel used as a reference by OPEC thus prolonged the strong downward trend resulting from the expansion of the covid-19 and exacerbated by the threat from large producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia to flood the cheap oil market.
The accumulated decline since the beginning of the year, with the peak reached on 6 January ($ 70.87), already exceeds 67 percent in a spiral of losses caused by the negative effects of the covid-19 pandemic on the economy, aggravated by the disagreement between OPEC and Russia to agree on a new supply cut earlier this month.
OPEC's natural leader Riyadh responded to the lack of agreement by announcing an increase in its production, in a price war and to gain market share, which together with the collapse in demand, sank the price of black gold.
The average value of OPEC oil in March is already $ 34.46, 38 percent less than in February.
The prices of other types of reference oils, such as Brent and Texas intermediate oil (WTI), also plummet due to the collapse in demand caused by the economic standstill resulting from the covid-19 pandemic.
Texas oil was priced at $ 20.09 per barrel on Monday, the lowest value since February 2002, while Brent remains below $ 23, an unprecedented figure in 18 years.
The situation is a severe blow for OPEC members - Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Angola, Congo, Gabon, Kuwait, Libya, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria - because they are very dependent on the revenue generated by sales of black gold.
In the same way, other independent producers are being reached, such as Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador or Colombia.
