The price of both types of oil is now the lowest since 2002.
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Nomura Securities is predicting that the prices would slump to $30 a barrel in the next few trading sessions.
China seems to be making waves in the oil worldwide market as it’s markets pushes crude closer to $30 a barrel causing the U.S oil future in NY to experience its lowest in over a decade.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell to new 11-year lows of $33.09 per barrel on Thursday, undercutting a low from a day earlier, although prices edged back to $33.52 per barrel by 0213 GMT.
Much of the distress in the oil markets can be attributed to market turbulence in China, where the CSI 300 Index dropped more than 7% after halting trading early to counteract sharp declines.
Prices ended 2015 below $40 per barrel, with spot prices for the global crude oil benchmark Brent averaged $52 per barrel in 2015, 53% below the level in 2014 and 49% below the average price over 2010-14.
Last year, long-time crude oil bear, Goldman Sachs, had suggested in an investor note that prices would have to slip to as low as $20 a barrel for the markets to rebalance.
“With oil markets producing 1 million barrels a day in excess (of demand) and very little sign of any rational response from the supply side, it’s little wonder we’re seeing pressure again”, said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.
The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery moved down $2 to settle at $33.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest close since December 2008.
OPEC’s smallest member Ecuador, which has increased debt and reduced investments due to the oil price plunge, said it would continue to press for production cuts when the cartel meets next on June 2 in Vienna. The last time the price of Brent was so low was in July 2004. The global oil industry is watching closely for any glimmer of market recovery.
The fears about the slowdown in China are adding to worries about the persistent oversupply and increasing geopolitical tensions which have dragged down crude at the beginning of the year.
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United States government data on Wednesday showed a 10.6 million-barrel surge in gasoline supplies, the biggest weekly build since 1993, rattling investors already concerned by near-record production and massive stockpiles around the world.
