[ARABNEWS] US crude oil prices on Friday plunged below $40 a barrel for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, notching their longest weekly losing streak in 29 years after a further rise in US drilling and a drop in Chinese manufacturing.
US October crude fell $1.07, or 2.6 percent, to $40.25 a barrel by 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 GMT), having touched a new 6-1/2-year low of $39.86 a barrel. Front-month US crude has fallen 33 percent over eight consecutive weeks of losses, the longest such losing streak since 1986.
Brent oil fell $1.27, or 2.8 percent, to $45.35 a barrel, after hitting a low of $45.09 and threatening to break below $45 a barrel for the first time since March 2009, Reuters reported |