Jamaica and the majority of Caribbean nations got some great news on Sunday, with the price of oil plunging 27 percent to just over US$30 per barrel.
Oil traded over $65 per barrel late 2019 but has fallen to the low US$50 recently. The price opened at US$32.87 and traded as low as $30 on Sunday, Jamaica time. The price is back to where it was in early 2016 when it tumbled from just over US$100 per barrel. According to Market Watch, a USA publication, Asian stock markets plunged Monday after global oil prices nosedived on worries a global economy weakened by a virus outbreak might be awash in too much crude.
Jamaica, a heavy oil user, imports around 20 million barrels per year and could save nearly US$400 million per annum if the price were to stay around these levels. If the price holds, it will result in gasoline price dropping, electricity bills will fall, but the government will collect far less taxes on petroleum.