Global oil prices continued to drop yesterday, the last trading day of the year, even as US data showed a greater-than-expected decline in inventory.West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which is priced within the range of the light sweet crudes produced in T&T, dropped US$1.25, or 2.3 per cent, to US$52.87 by midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping to US$52.51, the lowest since May 2009.
Brent fell US$1.25, or 2.2 per cent, to US$56.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after touching US$55.81, also the lowest since May 2009. Prices decreased 49 per cent in 2014. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of US$3.78 to WTI on the ICE, compared with US$12.38 at the end of 2013.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is scheduled to address the nation next week on the state of the economy and the implications of falling oil and gas prices next week. She has urged the nation not to panic, saying there will be no job cuts or removal of social subsidies.Oil is now trading well below the US$80 on which the 2014/2015 budget was based.