By Victor Reklaitis
U.S. oil benchmark at level last seen more than 5 years ago
FactSet
The U.S. oil benchmark on Friday settled at levels last seen in mid-2009.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Talk about an oil slick. Few seem to know how much further crude prices can fall, lately. The most recent slide is to levels last seen in mid-2009.
The U.S. crude benchmark CLF5, -1.77% slumped to a five-year low on Friday, as shown in the included chart. It settled at $65.84 a barrel — its lowest level since July 2009, back when the U.S. economy was far from recovering from the Great Recession.
WTI has tumbled 33% in the year to date, and it’s off 55% from its record high of $145.29 hit in July 2008, according to the markets data group at Dow Jones.
Oil prices have been hammered lately by factors such as OPEC deciding not to reduce production, a strengthening dollar and Saudi Arabia cutting January prices for U.S. and Asian buyers. Read more: Oil hit by rallying greenback, Saudi price cut
The European oil benchmark on Friday also settled at its lowest level in more than five years, with Brent crude for January delivery LCOF5, -1.01% ending at $69.07 a barrel. That was the lowest settlement for a front-month contract since October 2009, and Brent is down 38% in the year to date.
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