Oil-stock plunge erases $17 billion as Exxon hits 5-year low

Oil-stock plunge erases $17 billion as Exxon hits 5-year low: "Oil and gas producers dropped to their lowest level in almost four years as collapsing markets in China heightened concern that demand will falter, aggravating a glut. An index of 40 energy explorers, refiners and drillers lost $17 billion in value, declining 2.1% at 12:49 p.m. in New York trading. The group earlier tumbled as much as 5.5% to the lowest since October 2011. The slide extended Exxon Mobil Corp.’s year-to-date decline to 24%, putting the world’s biggest oil producer by market value on track for the poorest annual performance since at least 1981. Stocks around the world plunged as a rout that began with the Aug. 11 devaluation of China’s yuan rippled through European and U.S. markets. Commodities fell to a 16-year low, Treasury yields dipped and U.S. crude fell below $38/bbl for the first time since February 2009. “It’s a bloodbath,” said Mark Hanson, an analyst who follows U.S. crude explorers at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “We’re at an intersection of a lot of bad news.”"

'via Blog this'