Oil prices pressed higher Monday, March 8, 2021, after strikes on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter, shook energy markets.
But OPEC, rattled by plunging prices over the past year, chose not to open the spigots, sending prices higher still.
But that prior attack disrupted more than half of its daily exports, halting 5% of world crude oil output.
“The last thing anyone wants in a recovering global economy is higher oil prices, and we are likely nearing a point when higher oil prices become a negative rather than a positive influence over risk assets," Stephen Innes of Axi said in a report Monday.
Oil prices crashed as millions of people stayed home and avoided traveling, hoping to avoid infection.