LONDON: Oil prices fell for a third session on Wednesday, with US crude futures tumbling to an 18-year low and Brent hitting a more than 16-year low as travel and social lockdowns to counter the coronavirus raised prospect of the steepest ever annual fall in oil demand.
US crude was down $2.82, or 10.5%, at $24.13 a barrel by 1400 GMT, having earlier touched its lowest since April 2002 at $23.60.
The last time oil traded that low was when China had only just begun its rise as a global economic superpower that propelled the world’s oil consumption to record highs in subsequent years.
Brent crude was trading down $1.91, or 6.7%, at $26.82 a barrel after dropping as low as $26.65, its weakest since late 2003.
Both contracts were on track for a quarterly declin
