Oil Is Slumping Again After Greek Election Results

Oil prices are slumping early Monday, with Brent falling close to a six-year low after Greece's election results.

At 8.49 a.m. GMT (3.50 a.m. EST) Brent was trading at $47.81 per barrel, down 2%.

West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $44.83, down 1.67%, and below the $45 threshold for the first time in two weeks.

Here is a chart for WTI:

Investing.com

The euro also dropped to the lowest since 2003 against the dollar. Reuters wrote that "Greek election results heightened uncertainty in the euro zone and depressed the bloc's currency against the dollar."

The single currency was already falling following the European Central Bank's decision last Friday. The central bank finally agreed to start a policy of quantitative easing in the euro zone, effectively injecting up to €1.1trillion (£824 billion) in financial markets (and hopefully the wider economy).

According to Reuters, the new slump in oil prices effectively wiped out feeble gains that followed the death of Saudi Arabia's king Abdullah. The new king, Salman, was keen to retain the same oil policies of his predecessor, effectively eliminating the chance of any cut in oil crude production in the foreseeable future.