OREANDA-NEWS. The price of April futures for Brent crude oil fell to its lowest level in 13 months. During trading on the Intercontinental Exchange (London), the price of North Sea oil fell below 55 US dollars per barrel for the first time since the beginning of January 2019.

The cost of WTI crude oil futures with delivery dates in March also updated record for at least 13 months, their price fell below 50 dollars per barrel.

Earlier, Bloomberg agency reported that oil demand in China decreased by 20 %. From January 20, when the spread of coronavirus began to be perceived as a threat to the global economy, price fell by 13 %. A week later, the price of Brent oil dropped below 60 dollars and continued to decline. According to the Citigroup bank, the price of a barrel can fall to 47 dollars.

Reuters reports that the world’s largest importer of crude oil, Sinopec Corp., reduced production by 12 %, and it became the sharpest reduction in more than a decade.