Global crude oil prices fall to over 11-year low
New Delhi, Dec 26: Global crude oil prices fell to an over 11-year low. So Brent crude oil futures dropped 2 percent, to 36.05 dollars a barrel–its weakest since July 2004.
The price of oil has halved over the past year. Plunging oil has shred the finances of oil producers such as Nigeria, which faces its worst economic crisis in years, or Venezuela, which has been plunged into deep recession.
Even wealthy Gulf Arab states have been hit. Last week, top OPEC exporter, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain raised interest rates as they scrambled to protect their currencies.
And Iraq devalued its dinar currency to offset the impact of lower oil, while Azerbaijan ditched its currency peg after burning through more than half its foreign exchange reserves this year. (With inputs from AIR News)
