When oil prices went below $42 per barrel, there were analysts that predicted it might even go as low as $15. It seems like this may soon happen as oil price continues to down, presently at $39.
On Friday, oil closed at $40.29. Early Monday West Texas Intermediate Crude dropped to$39 a barrel. It is the first time it went this low since 2009. Just over a year ago in June 2014, oil was at $100 per barrel.
ClipperData Director of Commodity Matt Smith said, these are "epic times in the oil market."
The growing anxiety concerning China's economic slowdown is one of the reasons for the oils continuous drop in price. TD Securities' Bart Melek said, "We're seeing equity markets in Asia implode and there definitely is a lot of risk-off sentiment."
On Monday, Shanghai stock market dropped 8.5%. This is the first time it went this low since eight years. The volatile Chinese economy affected equity markets in Europe, U.S., and Asia. This brought the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a low 5.8%.
The continuous drop in oil prices is an indicator that there is still more oil in this world than most people imagine. There is a massive supply surplus that increased the production among shale oil producers in America. This is another major reason for the sinking of the oil prices.
New technologies, as well as cheaper technologies made oil still profitable to produce at a low price. Besides the increasing supply, demand for oil is also going down in the U.S., South America, Europe, and Asia.
This may not be a very good sign for Wall Street people, but one thing is for certain, American consumers are enjoying the very low price of oil. A gallon of gasoline can even go to as low as $2 and below. Just last year, it was $3.44.
Join the Conversation