Oil drops to five-year low

Oil dropped to its lowest level in more than five years on growing evidence that OPEC won’t pare output to reduce a global supply surplus.

Brent slid as much as 4% while West Texas Intermediate fell 3.3%. The United Arab Emirates has no plans to reduce output no matter how low prices drop, according to Yousef Al Otaiba, the nation’s ambassador to the US.

Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE have stressed that OPEC won’t curb output to halt the rout. WTI’s discount to Brent shrank to its narrowest level since October.

“The price war continues and there’s a great deal of excess supply,” said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group in Chicago. “This will be a long fought war,” he added.

* Bloomberg