Oil prices were falling on Thursday morning, as Brent dropped below the $60 a barrel threshold for the first time this week.
At 10.25 a.m GMT (5.25 a.m. EST), Brent was trading at $59.30 a barrel, down over 2% from yesterday night.
The index suffered the heaviest losses as markets opened, tumbling to $58.55 before gradually climbing back up.
West Texas Intermediate crude was down even more, trading at $50.94 a barrel at the time of writing. That's down 3.5% from its previous value.
Here is a chart of Brent:
Investing.com
Crude prices have crashed by almost 50% in the second half of last year, as rising production from the American shale industry and a general malaise in the world economy have dragged prices down.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV earlier this month, BP boss Bob Dudley confessed he had bearish feelings towards the oil market for this year. Although a stabilising process is in place "it will be a long time before we see $100 again," he said.
Morgan Stanley has been a little more confident lately, forecasting a comeback for oil prices as world's producers are adjusting for the oversupply and cutting production.