With this drop, the price of the reference barrel of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) accentuated the sinking that started after the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic in China, having lost 76 percent - or 54 dollars - compared to the peak of $ 70.87 that it reached on January 6th.
The last time it was at such a low level was in December 2001, when it registered a strong decline caused by an air transport crisis, after the terrorist attacks against the Twin Towers of New York on September 11 of that year.
Now, to the reduction of flights, much greater than that of then, is added the limitation of travel and the social distance that were imposed in much of the planet as a measure to stop the spread of covid-19.
All this was reflected in a drastic reduction in world oil demand, which on Wednesday was reflected in the news that 13.8 million barrels of oil joined last week's commercial reserves stored in the United States.
"Oil experienced many crises, but none as fierce as the current one," wrote in a tuit 'Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who believes that this crisis will stop production and hamper investments in industry, with "repercussions for the energy sector, the economy and trade in general".
The OPEC price collapse coincided on Wednesday with several reports confirming that Saudi Arabia, the organization's natural leader, was opening the taps in the middle of a price war unleashed after the failure of negotiations with Russia to keep cuts in oil production.
The failure occurred on 6 March in Vienna, when the meeting of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, ended without agreement due to Moscow's refusal to give the green light to a further cut in production to combat the contraction of demand caused by the pandemic. .
The group's 23 producing countries have not even managed to agree to prolong the current cuts that ended on March 31, so that, since Wednesday, everyone can produce the volumes they want and can.
According to analysts, the collapse of "petro-prices" is the result of recessionary demand and a rising supply, and could lead to the bankruptcy of many mining companies, especially shale oil companies in the United States.
Faced with this situation, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that he had telephone conversations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salmán to resume cooperation started in 2016 to limit cuts in oil production and thus sustaining prices. "I think they will come to an agreement," Trump said in a joint interview.
This Thursday morning, the price of Brent oil, a reference in Europe, was recovering part of the lost ground, when it was quoted on the London futures market at $ 27.35 per barrel, 10.1 percent more than in the Wednesday.
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 revenues generated by sales of black gold.
In the same way, other independent producers are being reached, such as Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador or Colombia.
