Oil prices tumble 25% as 'price war' begins

PRICE CRASH: Oil prices plunged over 25 per cent on Monday after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

ASIAN TRADE: The two main contracts both lost about a fifth of their value in morning Asian trade, with West Texas Intermediate sliding to about $30.15 a barrel and Brent crude to about $33.60 a barrel.

BIGGEST PRICE CUTS IN 20 YEARS: Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil price drop Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices in the last 20 years, Bloomberg News reported, after a failure by OPEC group and its allies to clinch a deal to cut production.

MAIN PRODUCERS: A worker at an oilfield owned by Bashnef in Bashkortostan, Russia. A meeting of main producers was expected to agree to deeper cuts to counter the impact of the new coronavirus — but Moscow refused to tighten supply.

PRICE CUT: In response, the Gulf powerhouse cut its price for April delivery by $4-6 a barrel to Asia and $7 to the United States, with Aramco selling its Arabian Light at an unprecedented $10.25 a barrel less than Brent to Europe, Bloomberg said. Photo shows Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil facility in eastern Saudi Arabia.