The price of crude has plunged by almost 60 percent from its 2014 peak — and suddenly looks likely to stay low for months and maybe years to come, the Wall Street Journal reported today. American oil companies have stunned their global rivals by maintaining or even adding production as U.S. prices nose-dived from $100 a barrel to $70 late last year to, as of yesterday, just above $40. Even more surprisingly, the Saudis have actually increased their production in the face of falling prices, in what analysts say is a pre-emptive effort to keep competitors like Iraq from stealing customers in Asia. Between 2008 and 2015, American oil production rose by 75 percent, topping nine million barrels a day late last year.
