Crude oil prices continued to linger near the US$80 per barrel level on which this country's budget is based yesterday.
West Texas Intermediate crude–the price of T&T's oil–fell to a low of $80.36 before inching back up to $81 by the end of the trading day. Oil has slid below the US$80 mark recently but has not breached it for long.
Shrinking economic activity in Europe and continued sluggishness in China are contributing to less demand for especially oil.
Other factors contributing to lower energy prices, include increased supplies. US oil production, fueled by the shale boom, is skyrocketing. According to the Energy Information Administration, Saudi Arabia is actually ramping up production in an apparent effort to maintain overall revenues. It's also having the side effect of putting pressure on Russia, which relies heavily on oil revenue as well.
Finance Minister Larry Howai said Government has already started an exercise to address expenditure which will be accelerated if oil prices fell below US$80 for an extended period and if gas prices followed suit. However, the minister does not expect the downward trend in oil prices to continue for too long.