Coronavirus outbreak causes record drop in world oil demand: Report

Published March 4, 2020 1:52pm ET



World oil demand will suffer the largest quarterly drop in history because of an unprecedented stoppage in economic activity in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Global oil demand in the first quarter of 2020 will be 3.8 million barrels per day lower than a year earlier, a steeper fall than what occurred during the 2009 financial crisis, according to a new projection Wednesday by London-based research group IHS Markit.

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