The price of crude further amplified its fall on Friday. A barrel of brent crude fell to almost 24 dollars, its level of April 2003. The announcement of massive American support of 2.2 trillion dollars against the economic impact of the coronavirus had once raised black gold. But the explosion in unemployment in the United States, with the announcement Thursday of 3 million new job seekers, pulls it down.
Read also: Frightened by coronavirus, markets and oil collapse
The problem comes from a surplus of supply. Even before the spread of the epidemic and the price war unleashed by Saudi Arabia and Russia in early March, there was already a gap between supply and demand. The drastic drop in needs brought about by the paralysis of the world economy and, against the tide, the will displayed by Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates to export more, do nothing to help. The decline in demand will be even stronger in the second quarter, warns the International Energy Agency.
As a result, oil stocks are piling up. " The reserves
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