By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA
Brent crude oil price dipped below $80 per barrel on Wednesday for the first time in more than four years.
The leading global benchmark for oil trading fell to $79.39 on Thursday at 12:25 pm GMT, according to official figures.
Brent crude oil price started the week by rising above the $85 per barrel mark, reaching $85.46 on Monday, when Asian countries slightly raised their demand by purchasing oil to stock their refineries.
The price took a sudden slump on Tuesday falling to $81.21 per barrel before falling further to $80.44 on Wednesday morning - caused by some members of OPEC signaling that it will not cut oil production despite the falling oil prices.
OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, who also have some of the lowest oil production costs in the world, indicated earlier they would not cut their oil production volumes - a move to preserve their market shares.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq also stated that they would lower their oil sales price to U.S. buyers in order to compete with the domestic shale oil producers in the country, which contributed to the rapid fall, according to oil experts.
Meanwhile, other OPEC countries led by Venezuela are leaning towards cutting production in order to increase oil prices to preserve their oil-revenue-dependent economies from further damage.
The highly anticipated OPEC meeting on Nov. 27 is expected to shed some light on the oil cartel's strategy against the decline in oil prices.
Brent crude oil prices have fallen more than 30 percent since June when it was over $116 per barrel.
The low global demand for oil, slow growth rate of Asian and European economies, increasing value of U.S. dollar straining the purchasing power of oil-dependent countries, and the rise in U.S. shale oil production are considered as long-term factors responsible for the price slump since June.
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