Oil Prices Tumble. Worst Case Could Be $40 a Barrel.

Oil prices tumbled again on Friday, hitting their lowest levels since December 2021. It Is becoming increasingly clear to analysts that bearish economic forces are outweighing the bullish impacts of China’s rebound and sanctions against Russia. 

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell as low as $65.17 per barrel on Friday, down 4.7% from Thursday’s settlement levels. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell as much as 4.4%, to $71.40 per barrel. Both products rebounded somewhat around midday, but were still trading down on the day. Brent is off by about 15% in just the past 10 days. The

Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF

(ticker: XLE) was down 1.5%