New York (News of The South) – for the first time in 12 years the US crude prices fell below $30 a barrel on Tuesday as OPEC member Nigeria called for an emergency meeting to address collapsing prices.
New York’s benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery fell to $29.93 a barrel, a level last seen in December 2003.
By the end of trade prizes had pulled slightly to end 97 cents lower at $30.44 a barrel.
The Prices in London also took a nose dive with the benchmark Brent North Sea crude for February ending down 69 cents at $30.86 a barrel.
The continued plunge in prices, with some analysts now seeing a $20 price in sight, spurred more turmoil in exporters, many feeling a deep squeeze on revenues from the collapse of the market.
The Nigerian petroleum resources minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, declared that he expects an extraordinary meeting of the oil cartel in “early March” to discuss nosediving crude prices.
“We did say that if it hits the $35 (per barrel level), we will begin to look (at)… an extraordinary meeting,” Kachikwu said at the Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and foremost oil producer, has been ravaged by collapsing oil prices because crude accounts for 90 percent of the nation’s export earnings and 70 percent of overall government revenue.
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