# US, Russian oil officials to meet as Brent crude hits 18-year low | OPEC | Al Jazeera

> Brent crude fell to its lowest level in 18 years, dropping 9.8% to $22.50 a barrel, while WTI briefly traded below $20. Trump and Putin agreed to have top energy officials meet after Trump called the Saudi-Russia price war crazy, and the benchmarks have recorded five straight weekly losses.

- Date: 2020-03-30 · published 2020-03-30T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: geopolitics · region Global · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54288-us-russian-oil-officials-to-meet-as-brent-crude-hits-18-year-low-opec-al-jazeera
- Commodities: [Crude Oil (Brent)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BRENT.md), [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md), [Soybean Oil](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SBO.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md)

## Why it matters

Persistent crude weakness from coronavirus demand destruction and the producer price war squeezes US drillers and cuts biofuel economics. Lower energy prices keep pressure on ethanol, biodiesel and vegetable oil feedstock demand.

## Read by commodity

- SBO: bearish ▼
- WTI: bearish ▼
- CORN: bearish ▼
- BRENT: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BRENT | 2020-03-18 | [US crude falls 24%, Brent down 13% as analysts warn more to come \| Coronavirus pandemic \| Al Jazeera](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7663-us-crude-falls-24-brent-down-13-as-analysts-warn-more-to-come-coronavirus.md) | -9.0% | -17.4% |
| BRENT | 2020-03-18 | [Brent crude futures hit 16-year low below $27.00/b \| S&P Global](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7661-brent-crude-futures-hit-16-year-low-below-27-00-b-s-and-p-global.md) | -9.0% | -17.4% |
| BRENT | 2020-03-06 | [Russia ‘playing with fire’ as OPEC+ talks collapse \| OPEC \| Al Jazeera](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54051-russia-playing-with-fire-as-opec-talks-collapse-opec-al-jazeera.md) | -36.6% | -51.4% |
| BRENT | 2026-05-06 | [Brent Crude Price: Oil and gas plunge after report US and Iran near deal to end war](https://feedsoft.ai/events/9582-brent-crude-price-oil-and-gas-plunge-after-report-us-and-iran-near-deal-to-end.md) | -2.3% | -11.1% |
| BRENT | 2020-07-15 | [OPEC+ to boost oil production next month \| OPEC \| Al Jazeera](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52003-opec-to-boost-oil-production-next-month-opec-al-jazeera.md) | +3.2% | +2.7% |
| WTI | 2020-03-18 | [US crude falls 24%, Brent down 13% as analysts warn more to come \| Coronavirus pandemic \| Al Jazeera](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7663-us-crude-falls-24-brent-down-13-as-analysts-warn-more-to-come-coronavirus.md) | -18.5% | -26.1% |
| WTI | 2020-03-18 | [Brent crude futures hit 16-year low below $27.00/b \| S&P Global](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7661-brent-crude-futures-hit-16-year-low-below-27-00-b-s-and-p-global.md) | -18.5% | -26.1% |
| WTI | 2020-03-06 | [Russia ‘playing with fire’ as OPEC+ talks collapse \| OPEC \| Al Jazeera](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54051-russia-playing-with-fire-as-opec-talks-collapse-opec-al-jazeera.md) | -31.3% | -45.0% |

## Sources

- aljazeera.com: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/3/30/us-russian-oil-officials-to-meet-as-brent-crude-hits-18-year-low

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.