The coronovirus spreading in China and across the world has hampered economic activity in many nations. Russia, a nation which depends on high oil prices as she has no economy outside of the sale of largely raw or minimally processed materials and the export of cheap weapons to questionable government, is set to see some temporary economic instability as Brent crude prices are set to drop to below $55 a barrel amid the effects of the virus on the production and manufacturing sector.
The price of Brent crude oil may drop to $ 55 under pressure from the news background associated with a new type of pneumonia outbreak caused by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, experts interviewed by TASS said. At the same time, if the “viral risk” is quickly neutralized, oil prices will still need time to recover.
This week began with a fall in domestic and western markets. In particular, the price of futures for Brent crude oil for delivery in March 2020 on the ICE exchange in London by 16:17 Moscow time fell by 2.77% to $ 59.05 per barrel. For the week, prices for black gold showed the strongest drop in eight months. Today, analysts believe that the news background associated with the spread of the epidemic in China is capable of dropping the price of Brent to $ 55 per barrel – below the July low of $ 56.23. (source)