In the first week of January crude oil reached $69/bl but it has since dropped to $45/bl as the coronavirus crisis destroyed the global demand. The Saudis tried to make a deal with Russia, the second largest exporter after Saudi Arabia, to together cut oil production to keep the price up. But Russia rejected a new OPEC cut. It wants to keep its production up and it will use the crisis to further undermine U.S. oil fracking production. As the whole fracking boom in the U.S. is built on fraud the move might well be successful. **Russia’s Defiance Sets the Stage for Oil Price ‘Bloodbath’.** https://archive.md/wupwZ#selection-519.0-519.58 **Is the U.S. Fracking Boom Based on Fraud?** https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/03/is-the-u-s-fracking-boom-based-on-fraud.html