West Texas crude is now under $30

[Recursion]

It was more expensive in nominal dollars in the nineties (EDIT: eighties -- thanks Spider Jerusalem). I think we're about to see what a deflationary spiral looks like.

[duforsure]

1. trumps buddy MBS has started a huge drop

In financial markets around the world, because putin was greedy.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Can it be used as a disinfectant for coronavirus?

All kidding aside, the fact that Saudi Arabia is also lowering their prices and flooding the market is bad news for workers in the oil patch. That price doesn't even cover the costs where they are fracking.

[Recursion]

4. The Saudi thing is being reported as a blow against Russia, but it's also

Basically a guarantee that US fracking companies will go under. Which, hey, is good on a lot of levels, but will be a drag on the economy.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Inflation adjusted it's actually right around 1990s prices

oil for most of the '90's was under $20 a barrel, hitting a low of $11 a barrel in 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and averaging around $18 a barrel for the rest of the decade; $30 in current dollars adjusted for inflation to 1993 is $16.74 (a year when the average oil price was $16.75).

https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/historical-crude-oil-prices-table/

[Recursion]

5. Thanks, it was the 80s, not the 90s

Tail-end of OPEC. I thought the Gulf War drove it up that high but apparently not quite.