Oil Plumbs New Lows Below $27…Ecuador Sells Oil Without Profit

US oil prices crashed below $27 dollars a barrel in Jan.20 for the first time since 2003, caught in a broad slump across world financial markets while traders stand worried that the crude supply glut could last longer.

Oil prices lost more than 75% of their value just a year ago, as figures amounted to more than 140 million dollars at a time when oil prices remained below $ 29, due to the large surplus in the market, which in turn is expected to increase with the homecoming of the Iranian oil to the markets in the near future; having the sanctions being lifted this past week.

What made things worse was the slow growth in the Chinese economy, the devaluation of the Chinese currency against the dollar, and the deterioration of its financial market.

Moreover, Venezuela’s request for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting to discuss steps to prop up oil prices did not succeed in curbing declines.

Four sources from OPEC confirmed for Asharq Al-Awsat that Venezuela has requested holding an emergency meeting to support oil prices, which have dropped to their lowest since 2003.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa, the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ smallest member, has long pushed for a cut in production to boost prices. However, those calls have gone unheeded by OPEC’s bigger members.

He stated that he is in favor of Venezuela’s request for an emergency OPEC meeting to find solutions for this huge fall in oil prices.