Oil is now hovering around $66 a barrel, prompting analysts to model scenarios where prices remain in the $60s this year or even decline into the $50s.

Crude oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Monday morning as demand fears arising from the trade war between the United States and China were pressing down demand at the pump.

What started as a buying spree of Iranian oil, on fears of further US sanctions, has developed into a broader stockpiling of crude after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, coupled with an increase in production by oil cartel Opec, sent prices sliding to a four-year low.