After having dipped 5 percent on Wednesday, oil prices continued plunging on Thursday by more than 2 percent, as speculators have started exiting the nearly record long positions in oil futures that they had amassed. As of 11:54 AM (EST), WTI Crude was trading down 2.27 percent at US$49.14, while Brent was down 2.09 percent at US$52.00. Having traded in a tight range with low volatility for three months, oil prices are now breaking loose, and WTI is testing the US$49 floor, after it dipped below US$50 for the first time since December. The volatility could create a sense of panic and prompt even more speculators rush to liquidate their long positions, according to The Street . “It’s a combination of an overhang of (speculative) length and the overhang in inventories … and the other thing unnerving the market is rapid growth in U.S. crude production,” Andrew Lebow, senior […]