Losing more than a quarter of their value, oil prices were set for their biggest one-day decline in 29 years on Monday, after Saudi Arabia ignited a price war in a market already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus on global demand.
Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices and made plans to ramp up crude output next month after Russia balked at making a further steep output cut proposed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize oil markets.
Brent crude futures were down $11.81, or 26%, at $33.46 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after earlier dropping to $31.02, their lowest since Feb. 12, 2016. Brent futures are on track for their biggest daily decline since Jan. 17, 1991, when prices dropped at the start of the first Gulf War, as the market had been expecting the war for months.
