Day: April 20, 2020

A key American oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, fell by more than 80% on Monday as global oil markets continue to grapple with a pandemic-driven collapse in demand. At the start of 2020, a barrel of WTI cost around $60. Shortly after 1:40 p.m. ET on Monday, a barrel was trading for less than $2 — the lowest price the WTI futures market has ever seen. The plummeting price of WTI is driven by a trading contract deadline; oil traders have until Tuesday to sell off the current futures contract.…

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THE coronavirus pandemic has put economies in turmoil. The global economy is estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to face negative 3 per cent growth this year. No major economy worth the name may avoid a recession in 2020, other than the two powerhouses — China and India — who may remain in a marginally positive mode with less than 2pc growth. Pakistan is no exception. Its current year GDP performance is estimated negative 1.5pc. But let us acknowledge the industry was already in the negative. Services came under attack as…

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Energy demand, which was already less than installed capacities and committed imports, has further gone down, almost by an average of 50%. Many refineries are closed. There is talk of introducing force majeure on Qatar LNG and other import projects. Prices of oil, among other commodities, have gone down to $30 a barrel and even lower under the combined effect of low demand and Saudi-Russian price war. Prices lower than the cost of production are destructive and do not benefit anybody. Due to abnormally low prices, Pakistan’s own energy businesses…

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