US oil and gas prices plunge as global supply hits limits

Crude oil prices in the United States dropped to their lowest level in over a year on Friday as global supplies hit a record low.

The Brent crude oil benchmark price hit a low of $66.82 per barrel, a 52-week low, and a weekly low of nearly $49.30 per barrel.

The S&P 500 crude oil price was down about 5.4% to 1,852.10 US cents per barrel on Friday, with the benchmark futures falling about 2.5%.

The Brent oil price had fallen about 10% since October and has fallen as much as 10% in recent weeks as global crude supplies and demand in the U.S. slowed.

Crude prices have been on a downward trend for more than a year, and many experts have said they expect the price to come back up in the coming weeks.

While prices were already down more than 10% during the 2016-17 oil boom, they have come back down again in recent months, with most of the decline coming in the second half of 2018.