JAKARTA. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) reported that the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) fell by 39.53% to US$ 56.61 per barrel in March.
Agung Pribadi, Head of the Communications Bureau of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the decline in oil prices was caused by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in various countries. "Travel restriction in a number of countries has decreased, causing global oil demand to decline drastically," said Pribadi.
This is in line with the projections of the International Energy Agency (IEA) which states that global crude oil demand for 2020 will decline. In addition, the IEA also revealed there was an increase in crude oil stockpiles in the United States during March 2020 by 11.3 million barrels.
Meanwhile, OPEC said that the global oil demand trend this time was influenced by the slow growth of the world economy. (KR/AR)