Oil on track for longest losing streak on record

U.S. crude oil futures were getting hammered Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil down almost 5 percent in afternoon trading.

If the contract finishes the session lower, it will be its 12th consecutive session of losses, its longest losing streak since futures began trading in March 1983.

WTI is now priced well below $60 a barrel. WTI futures climbed earlier this year, buoyed in part by the expectation that re-imposed sanctions on Iran would trim global supply.

However, now that the sanctions are official, they are not having the effect analysts were expecting. In fact, on Tuesday, according to MarketWatch, OPEC reported that OPEC and Russian crude production climbed in October, more than offsetting losses from Iran.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday President Trump tweeted, urging OPEC not to reduce production to support prices.

His tweet comes after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said Monday that OPEC and some non-OPEC producers agreed to cut output next year by 1 million barrels per day.