Global Oil Prices Plunges By 27% As Saudis Vow To Flood The Market

Global prices for crude oil dropped by almost 27 percent after the top world oil producer and exporter, Saudi Arabia, announced that it would step up its production from the month of April.

The announcement by Saudi Arabia means the global markets will be flooded with petrol and diesel products, and most likely, depress the prices. This means consumers around the world should be prepared for lower prices of the products starting in April.

On Monday morning, a barrel of crude oil was retailing at 33.09 US dollars, a drop by 27 percent making it the worst one day fall since 1991 during the first Gulf War. The price of a barrel of crude oil in the United States of America fell by 27 percent to 30 US dollars.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a body established to monitor the security of global oil supplies, the demand for oil around the world is likely to shrink for the first time in 10 years this year due to the spread of Coronavirus.

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The agency now predicts that the demand for global oil will drop by 90,000bpd after predicting that demand was to surge by 825,000bpd in the year 2020. The spread of Coronavirus is set to disrupt almost every sector around the world.

The Spread Of Coronavirus

Coronavirus continues to sweep across the world. So far, more than 96 countries have reported positive cases. The number of infections is past 105,000 and the number of deaths is almost 4,000. China is still the worst hit, accounting for more than 95 percent of the deaths and infections.

The rate of infections is still low in Africa with just 9 countries having reported positive cases. Egypt is leading in the number of infections in Africa, at more than 55 and one death. The number of infections in South Africa has climbed to 7. Kenya is yet to report any positive cases.

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