International oil prices fell below US$50 to a new low (Figure)

[China Epoxy Network (China Epoxy Industry Online)November 24, 2008: Due to the continued decline in energy demand due to the global economic recession, oil prices in the New York market hit a three-and-a-half-year low on the 20th , Fell 4 US dollars to close at 49.
62 US dollars per barrel.
Experts from the China Epoxy Industry Association (style="vertical-align: inherit;"> ) said that the current main features are the following aspects: the U.
S.
unemployment rate has soared and the stock market has plummeted; European and American crude oil futures have fallen below US$50, the lowest in three and a half years.
; In November, OPEC shipping volume declined.
The number of unemployed persons in the United States reached its highest level in 16 years, prompting European and American stocks to plunge.
In a pessimistic market atmosphere, international oil prices fell to their lowest level in three and a half years.
European and American crude oil futures fell below US$49 and closed below US$50 per barrel, the lowest since late May 2005.
At the close of the New York Mercantile Exchange on the 19th, December West Texas Light Oil futures was US$49.
62 per barrel, down US$4 from the previous trading day, with a trading range of US$48.
50 to US$53.
30; London Intercontinental Exchange Brent crude oil January futures were US$49.
62 per barrel.
The barrel was 48.
08 US dollars, down 3.
64 US dollars from the previous trading day, and the trading range was 47.
82 to 51.
3 US dollars.
With a severe economic downturn, continued decline in demand, and loss of consumer confidence, international oil prices continued to plummet by two-thirds in a quarter.
The latest report from the U.
S.
Department of Labor stated that 542,000 people applied for unemployment benefits in the U.
S.
last week, the highest in 16 years.
The number of recipients of career funds is close to the highest in 26 years.
On the afternoon of the 19th, US Treasury Secretary Paulson said that the current financial crisis has only occurred once or twice in a century.
He also warned that stricter rules should be formulated to prevent this incident from happening again.
On the 19th, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell to its lowest level since April 14, 1997, and the stock market's gains in the past 10 years have not survived.

style="vertical-align: inherit;">    The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 444.
99 points, or 5.
56%, to close at 7552.
29 points, the lowest since March 12, 2003; the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 54.
14 points, or 6.
71%, to close at 752.
44 points; Nasdaq Composite The stock price index plummeted 70.
30 points, or 5.
07%, to close at 1,16.
12 points, the lowest since March 12, 2003.
Faced with declining demand, oil companies plan to store millions of barrels of crude oil awaiting economic recovery.
A shipping agent said that the US oil trader Koch and Royal Shell have booked supertankers worth tens of millions of barrels.
However, pirates in Somalia are rampant, and oil tankers transported from the Persian Gulf to Europe and the United States have been affected.
The general manager of Maersk Tanker Company said on Thursday that the company has 2-3 oil vessels to detour around the Cape of Good Hope, so that it will be extended by 14 days for tankers to Europe and 8 days for tankers to the United States.
Oil Movements, an oil tanker tracking agency based in the United Kingdom, ended the four weeks of December 6, except for the 11 member states of Angola and Ecuador, OPEC's shipping volume decreased by an average of 200,000 barrels per day compared to four weeks ago.
November is the traditional period of increased shipping volume, and OPEC shipping volume declines off-season, which may mean that the organization's production reduction agreement has begun to be fulfilled.
According to experts from the China Epoxy Industry Association ( when the New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures fell below US$52 per barrel on the 18th, Goldman Sachs analysts, who were once in the oil futures market, panicked.
.
There is a motto in the futures market called buy by rumors and sell by facts.
In recent years, analysts represented by Western investment banks have been advocating that strong demand in emerging Asian markets will lead to resource shortages and oil prices will continue to skyrocket.