The price for a barrel of oil dipped below $50 US a barrel for the first time since January 2019 and the coronavirus is being targeted as the culprit.

The virus, which broke out originally in Wuhan, China has resulted in a number of flight cancellations into and out of China, which has lowered demand for jet fuel.  China’s economy typically consumes about 14 million barrels per day, or about 17% of the entire world demand.

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate briefly traded as low as $49.92 a barrel, the lowest level on record for the North American oil benchmark in more than a year.

@CanBizJournal