Oil price slump: can it still fall further?- INTERESTING The oil price broke lower again yesterday and set a new nadir for the year, at a level not seen since early 2009.
Opec's decision on Friday not to cut its production target - in fact to offer no certainty on a production ceiling at all - has shaken up traders.
The cartel appears in utter discord and comments from its president that it is in "wait and watch" mode until next year have convinced many it is no longer in control of the market.
As the market is awash with oil - onshore reserves are at record levels and tankers are queuing at ports in the US and Asia - this adds up to a very bearish case.
Throw in a rise in the already-mighty dollar on Monday, which makes oil more expensive for foreign buyers, and you have a recipe for a major sell-off.
International benchmark Brent Crude fell sharply in London and then by five per cent in New York, eventually reaching $40.75.
This is almost $2 below the near-six-year low it had reached in August. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate slumped to less than $38 a barrel. Can oil go lower?
The short answer is yes: analysts have been warning that we will not see a true bottom until Iran has re-entered the market and that, in the short term, any breach of key resistance at around $40 for WTI could presage a major crash.
The Times is this morning warning of an "all-out panic" that could trigger a "freefall" to previously forecast levels around $20 a barrel.
Euan Mearns, editor of OilPrice.com, also says there is "little in the numbers to hope that $40 may hold" and that $20 is a realistic possibility in the near future.
Patrick Pouyanne, the boss of French oil giant Total, told the BBC that oil supply would continue to outstrip demand until at least the second half of 2016, meaning that there would be no recovery in prices next year.