Oil prices crash 5 pct., hit 5-year low

Oil prices have tumbled as much as five percent, pushing down US crude to near $60 a barrel, a five-year low.

The plunge came on Wednesday after Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in Peru that the monarchy had no intentions to cut output.

Global benchmark Brent crude prices fell below $65 a barrel, the lowest since July 2009.

Naimi said during his visit to the Latin American country that the market would be left to correct itself.

Naimi’s comments, along with slow growth in China and emerging-market economies, the recession in Japan and a near-stall in the eurozone are cited as the main reasons behind the plunge.

During November, the Saudis maintained their output between 9.6 million and 9.7 million barrels per day.

“That is not going to change unless other customers come and say they want more oil,” Naimi said.

Brent settled down $2.60, or 3.9 percent, at $64.24 a barrel after plumbing $63.56, while US crude closed down $2.88, or 4.5 percent, at $60.94.

At the 166th ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was held in the Austrian capital Vienna on November 27, the bloc “decided to maintain the production level of 30 million barrels per day,” where it has stood for three years.

OPEC was under pressure from some of its members, notably Venezuela and Ecuador, to cut output to reduce supplies and push prices back up. However, the call was rejected by Persian Gulf members, including Saudi Arabia.

OPEC, a Vienna-based intergovernmental organization of 12 oil-producing countries, pumps out about 40 percent of the world’s oil.

The new fall has reportedly prompted some OPEC members, namely Algeria and Venezuela, to hint at an emergency meeting of the bloc rather than the upcoming one set for June 2015.