Crude oil prices plunge to new record lows.

The global fuel market on December 12th continued to witness a sharp drop in crude oil prices, reaching new record lows in many years. The potential for oversupply and declining global demand are the two main factors continuing to strongly impact crude oil prices.

According to data from the New York Mercantile Exchange cited by a Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondent in the US, by the end of trading on December 12, the price of US Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil continued to fall by $2.14, or 3.6%, to $57.81 per barrel. This is the lowest price for this type of crude oil since May 2009.

Brent crude oil prices also fell by $1.83, or 2.9%, to $61.85 per barrel, the lowest level since July 22, 2009. Over the past week alone, Brent crude prices have fallen by more than $7, or 11%, and US crude oil prices have dropped by more than $8, or 12%.

Bjarne Schieldrop, a leading commodities analyst at SEB, said that the International Energy Agency's (IEA) forecast, released on the same day, that global crude oil demand in 2015 could fall by 230,000 to 900,000 barrels per day is the main reason investors are concerned about a supply surplus, especially as non-OPEC countries continue to increase production.

China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in November reached only 7.2%, compared to 7.7% in October, which is also causing investors to worry that demand for oil in the world's second-largest economy will decline. Over the past three months, the Chinese economy has still consumed an average of over 10 million barrels per day.

US and European stocks are in the red.

Immediately, the continued drop in oil prices had a strong impact on the US and European stock markets. The US stock market continued to be in the red on December 12th as crude oil prices on the world market continued their downward trend, reaching new record lows. The past week was considered a week of severe price drops for US stock indices.

Data from the New York Stock Exchange shows that by the final trading session before closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 major corporations had fallen an average of 204 points, or 1.2%, to 17,391 points. The Standard & Poor 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also lost 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively. During the day, the three major stock indices—Dow Jones, Standard & Poor 500, and Nasdaq—at times even dropped by 1.79%, 1.62%, and 1.16%, respectively.

Thus, in the past week alone, the Standard & Poor 500 index lost a total of 3.5% after seven consecutive weeks of gains. Since the beginning of December, the Standard & Poor 500 index has lost 4.9%. This prestigious stock index suffered a significant decline due to the shares of oil and gas companies, members of the Standard & Poor 500 group, which fell by another 2.2% on December 12th and have declined a total of 16.5% since the beginning of the year. ExxonMobil's XOM.N stock and Chevron Corp's CVX.N stock fell by an additional 2.91% and 1.82%, respectively, reaching their lowest levels in 52 weeks.

Major European stock indices were also heavily impacted by the continued drop in oil prices. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 2.5%, Germany's DAX dropped 2.7%, and France's CAC 40 declined 2.8%. The US dollar depreciated 0.2% against the Japanese yen and 0.5% against the euro.

Since the beginning of the year, crude oil prices on the world market have fallen by a total of 41%, with Brent crude falling by 45%, from its peak of $115 per barrel. Some experts predict that if OPEC does not intervene soon to cut daily production, crude oil prices could technically fall to $50-$55 per barrel, or even $40 per barrel.

The statement by the Saudi Arabian oil minister, the largest member of OPEC, reaffirming the policy of not cutting daily production, will certainly cause oil prices to fall further. In November, Saudi Arabia's daily production was 9.61 million barrels, a decrease of 80,000 barrels.

Due to falling oil prices, US oil and gas companies shut down 29 drilling rigs last week alone, the highest number in two years. According to data from oil services firm Baker Hughes, in the week ending December 12th, only 1,546 exploration rigs were active across the US, compared to a peak of 1,609 in October. The drop in oil prices has caused the stock prices of oil and gas corporations to fall by a total of 16.5% year-to-date.

According to news