Oil prices tumbled Monday below $40 per barrel for the first time since April, with both Brent and US crude prices falling by nearly four per cent. The latest slump in oil prices followed heightened fears of an oil glut after a survey suggested that crude oil output from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached record highs in July.
This posed greater concerns among managers of the Nigerian economy who had predicated the 2016 budget on oil benchmark price of $38 per barrel. The shortfall suggests that government’s plan to boost the economy through increased spending on infrastructure will struggle to take off this year. WTI crude plumbed $39.86, its lowest since April 20, trading $1.51, or 3.6 percent, lower at $40.09.