Global markets began the week on a wrong footing as the US oil price crashed below zero for the first time in history as COVID-19 weighed on demand.
The plunge of the price of oil to minus $37.63 paints a dire picture of the global demand for oil – with sellers effectively paying buyers to buy their stock.
The plunge in the oil price is bad news for
South African multinational chemicals and energy company Sasol.
The share price of Sasol weakened 3.45% to R55.61 a share by the end of business on Monday.
Once one of South Africa’s biggest companies, the market now values Sasol at around R36 billion – far smaller than listed pharmacy, health and beauty group Clicks, which the market values at newly R68 billion.
Sasol’s share price had endured a torrid few weeks as Saudi Arabia and Russia embarked on an untimely price war in the midst of COVID-19 which has brought the world’s capitals at a standstill.
The group’s Louisiana Lake Charles Chemicals Project which has had billions of rands in cost overruns has also hammered the company’s value.
