Oil price fall exacerbated by hedging, energy firms' debt

LONDON: Oil's dramatic price fall since mid-2014 cannot be explained by changes in production and consumption alone, with hedging and energy firms' high debt levels also playing a part, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.

The BIS compared oil's recent fall, which saw prices collapse to below $50 a barrel from levels of above $100, with declines in 1996 and 2006 and concluded that unlike on previous occasions, this time oil production has been close to expectations and consumption was only slightly below forecasts.