UrBC, Moscow, March 11, 2020. Brent crude oil futures contracts for May 2020 depreciated by 20%, down to $36.2 per barrel on March 9; Light futures contracts for April also lost 19.4% of their stock value, dropping to $33.26 per barrel.

Experts say this was Brent’s all-time low since 1991, as quotes plummeted by as much as 30% at certain points throughout Monday. According to analysts, the oil price crisis stems from the Saudi Arabia-Russia negotiations to reduce their oil output by (another) 1.5m barrels a day until the end of the year.

According to FinAm Group’s analysts, the world stock exchanges are panicking after the OPEC+ deal collapsed. While Riyadh insisted on shrinking the crude oil output by 1.5m barrels a day, Moscow was strongly against the idea. This resulted in a price war, which, in combination with the overwhelming spread of the Coronavirus (which has already halted the economy of China, a major oil importer, and could well cause a crisis in Europe), brought the crude oil quotes down by as much as 25%.

According to NEYVA Bank Chair of the Board Igor Koshmin, these factors will keep strengthening the U.S. dollar and the euro against the Russian ruble. On the bright side, banks might increase the interest rates on their ruble deposit options.