The price of West Texas Intermediate oil, the key US benchmark, has dropped below $50 per barrel for the first time since December 2016 on Thursday, extending big losses seen on Wednesday.
As of 11.20 a.m. GMT (6.20 a.m. ET) WTI crude has fallen roughly 2.2% on the day to trade at $49.17, after a sharp decline just before 10.10 a.m. Crude briefly dropped below $49 just before 11.00 a.m.
The last time WTI traded at lower than $50 per barrel was on December 15 last year.