Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in 18 years and suspended trading in US stock markets after Saudi Arabia reduced its oil export prices for the second time in the context of the price war it launched against Russia

The American oil prices fell during Wednesday’s transactions to less than $ 24 a barrel, for the first time in nearly 18 years, after Saudi Arabia reduced its oil export prices for the second time in the context of the price war it launched against Russia and its pledge to continue production levels.

High “over the coming months”.

Trading in the US financial markets was suspended for 15 minutes today, Wednesday, after the broader S & P500 index of American stocks fell more than 7% since the start of trading.

This comment is the fourth this month, in light of the continued decline in American stocks due to concerns about the economic repercussions of the spread of the Corona virus emerging (Covid-19) in the United States and the world.

The Dow Jones industrial average index of American stocks also lost all the gains that had been recorded since the arrival of US President Donald Trump to the White House.

The “Bloomberg” news agency indicated that during the past ten days, Saudi Arabia issues daily data confirming its adherence to the oil price war with Russia.

The initial statement indicated a record reduction in export prices, followed by the announcement of increasing production to unprecedented levels and now the Kingdom pledges to continue large production over the coming months.

The oil markets considered the Saudi data a green light to sell oil, which caused prices to retreat by 45% of their level before the OPEC Plus grouping of oil states failed to reach an agreement on production quotas earlier this month.

“Saudi Arabia has decided to flood the market with oil while it seeks to increase its market share by bringing production to its highest levels,” Bloomberg quoted Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at London-based Energy Aspects Consulting, saying.

This comes at a time when the Saudi Ministry of Energy directed Aramco to continue providing crude oil supplies at the level of 12.3 million barrels per day during the coming months, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Aramco announced a few days ago that it would increase its oil supplies to 12.3 million barrels per day in April.

The company announced the next day that it had received a directive to raise the maximum sustainable production capacity to 13 million barrels per day.

The price of WTI, the benchmark crude for US oil in the New York Mercantile Exchange, fell nearly 12% to $ 23.60 a barrel, its lowest level since June 2002. The price of oil has now fallen from any level during the global financial crisis that erupted in the fall of 2008, after the world economy was almost paralyzed for several days, and the global demand for oil collapsed, some dealers said that demand is now about 10% lower than its level a year ago.

In London, the price of Brent benchmark crude for North Sea oil fell by 2.7% to $ 26.66 a barrel, its lowest level since 2003.

Gasoline, diesel and diesel prices fell in wholesale trading.