Oil prices collapse by more than ten percent

Zurich At the end of the trading week, panic on the markets and weak trading volumes triggered the largest daily loss on the oil market in almost a year. The price of European Brent oil fell from just under 82 to 72.89 dollars per barrel (around 159 liters) and was thus around eleven percent lower on Friday evening than on the previous day. The drop in prices in the USA was even more pronounced: the US oil type WTI fell in price by over 12 percent within a day, and the price slipped to around 68 dollars per barrel.

Concerns about a new variant of the coronavirus, which is currently spreading rapidly in South Africa, triggered a broad sell-off mood in the markets. The oil market last collapsed so badly in May 2020 when the US oil price fell below zero dollars.