Oil prices fall by 12%, Brent slumps by 6% as coronavirus slashes crude demand

By
AFP
|
AFP/File

The coronavirus fears prompted oil in the international market to fall to its lowest price since 2002, as WTI oil slumped by 12% on Wednesday. 

WTI oil was priced at under $24 per barrel, as the coronavirus slashes global demand for crude.

WTI slid to $23.60 per barrel, while Brent North Sea oil touched a 2003 trough at $26.65 a barrel. 

The new coronavirus has infected more than 200,000 globally since the beginning of the outbreak in December, according to any AFP tally Wednesday.

Nearly 200,680 people around the world have been infected, with more than 8,000 deaths, as of 1300 GMT Wednesday.

The tallies are calculated using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO).