Mideast oil producers brace for impact of price slide

The global coronavirus outbreak and falling oil prices could spell a massive economic slowdown for oil-producing countries in the Middle East.
Flames emerge from flare stacks at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, as a man is seen wearing a protective face mask, following the outbreak of the coronavirus, north of Basra, Iraq March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - RC2IGF9A1IYO
Flames emerge from flare stacks at the Nahr Bin Umar oil field, and a man is seen wearing a protective face mask following the outbreak of the coronavirus, north of Basra, Iraq, March 9, 2020. - REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

Amid the coronavirus panic and plunging oil prices, fears are mounting of an economic slowdown in the Middle East’s main oil-producing countries.

The price of Brent crude oil dropped nearly 30% Monday in its biggest one-day fall since the Gulf war in 1991. The tanking oil prices followed a breakdown in talks between Saudi Arabia, the world’s second largest oil producer, and Russia. 

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