LONDON Oil prices extended their slump Wednesday, with WTI hitting the low est level since 2002 as planned output cuts were deemed insufficient to offset a coronavirusfuelled slump in demand. The benchmark WTI contract tumbled to $19.20 per barrel, the lowest level in 18 years. Shortly after, around 0920 GMT, WTI was dow n 2.3 percent at $19.66 per barrel and Brent showed a 3.6-percent loss at $28.54. “Crude oil has been hit hard… as a massive drop in demand highlights the shortcomings of the OPEC+ production cut,” noted Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group. “Whether today’s slump in oil prices serves to rally OPEC+ into another cut remains to be seen.” OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and Russia on Sunday thrashed out a deal to slash production by 9.7 million barrels per day from May. Oil prices briefly bounced Tuesday after US President Donald Trump tweeted that producers were considering cutting 20 million barrels per day— comments later backed up by Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.—AFP
