Crude Oil Crashes 30% Over Coronavirus Fear - Good News For India As Oil Import Bill May Halve

Oil prices plunged by almost a third on Monday - this is the biggest drop since the 1991 Gulf War, as top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war after Russia blocked a bid to cut output.

WTI crude oil traded 30.96 per cent, down at $28.50 per barrel in the international market. Brent crude oil was down 28.61 per cent at $32.32 per barrel.

In ferocious trading, both main crude contracts nosedived following Riyadh's shock move to slash prices after the alliance between oil-exporting group OPEC and its partners fell apart.

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At a meeting last week, Saudi Arabia led a push by OPEC ministers to reduce output to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak - but it hinged on agreement from the group's allies, foremost among them Moscow.

However Russia, the world's second largest oil producer, refused to tighten supply - and Riyadh then drove through the biggest cuts to prices in 20 years on Sunday, unleashing pandemonium on crude markets.

Amid falling prices, India may benefit from the situation, experts have said.

At least in the oil sector, the global health emergency posed by the spread of the novel Coronavirus and Saudi Arabia declaring a price war, is going to India's benefit.

AFP

India's oil import bill is expected to fall by a sharper 10 per cent in FY20 as the increasing spread of Coronavirus and now the fallout of talks between OPEC and Russia has depressed the crude oil prices to about $30 a barrel now against a high of over $70 a barrel in September and again in January this year.

For FY21, the import bill could slip to half of current levels at $64 billion witnessed in FY16 when crude had fallen to $26 a barrel for some time.

According to oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), country's oil imports is projected to fall to 225 million tonnes (mt) in FY20 against 227 mt in FY19 while the import bill would reduce 6 per cent to $105 billion from $112 billion worth of imports in previous fiscal.

Oil marketing companies (OMCs), tyre industry, synthetic fibre producers and businesses, which use oil derivatives as core inputs like paints, producers of lubricants, transformer oils, plastic products, soaps and detergents, etc are likely to gain with the falling crude oil prices.

Reuters

However, a global dip in oil prices failed to lift the domestic sentiment as increasing cases of coronavirus cases in India and concerns about domestic economic growth weighed on the market mood.

Indian stock markets fell sharply today with Sensex tanking over 2,200 points and Nifty was down 500 points.

Gold reached a record high of Rs 45,000 per 10 grams on Friday followed by a fall on two consecutive days amid safe haven buying over coronavirus fears.

A rally a global prices amid the coronavirus scare and monetary policy loosening by some central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, have pushed domestic gold prices closer to Rs 45,000. A weaker rupee, which is down at 16-month lows against the US dollar, has also contributed to the rise in domestic gold prices.

The Rupee is expected to be under pressure amid growing cases of coronavirus in India, Yes Bank crisis and concerns about the health of the economy.