Oil Prices Tank as OPEC Leaves Output Unchanged
Unsurprisingly, the stocks of major oil producers were in the firing line as their profits are hugely dependent on the price of oil they extract. Royal Dutch Shell, for example, fell 4.3 percent while Total SA dropped 4.1 percent.
Oil prices have taken a battering this year for a variety of reasons including the return of sustained supplies from countries like Iraq and Libya, the increase in shale gas production, particularly in the U.S., as well as signs of a slowdown in some of the world’s leading economies, notably China and Europe.
Analysts think some OPEC countries — Saudi Arabia in particular — don’t mind oil prices falling too far as they could make it uneconomical for shale gas producers. That in the long-run could boost OPEC’s market share.
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