On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister scoffed at the notion of slowing down production, followed the next day by the biggest dip in U.S. crude prices in over five years.
According to this report from CNBC, oil prices in the U.S. are now at $59.95 per barrel — its lowest mark since July 14, 2009.
U.S. oil prices have dropped 9 percent just this week, and about 45 percent since June, when oil hit a high of about $114 a barrel.
The reason for the sudden drop is largely being attributed to a recent decision by the 12 member countries of OPEC to continue with current production levels — a response to the burgeoning domestic production and a growing export market coming from the U.S.
The oil price drop immediately followed that announcement earlier this month, and unless OPEC reneges on its decision, economists are projecting oil prices will continue to fall over the next year.
Read more about this in our upcoming issue of ABiz, set to hit stands Monday.