| With US crude falling below the $50 mark for the first time in nearly six years, some traders are betting on $20 a barrel. It’s textbook economics: falling demand and rising supply. The United States has ramped up domestic oil production, by investing in highly-polluting fracking projects. US oil production increased by around 48% between 2008-13, taking output to 11m barrels a day by early 2014.
At first, the US surge in output was offset by supply disruptions elsewhere: western sanctions on Iran, turmoil in Iraq and Libya . But some supply problems have abated. Last month, Iraq’s oil exports were at their highest since 1980. Russia produced more oil in 2014 than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union...............................................Full Article: Source
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