Global stock markets have been in a tailspin this week. And the sinking price of oil received at least some of the blame.

Just this week, the cost of a barrel of crude reached a 12-year-low of US $27 (RM118.33), down from more than US $100 a little more than year ago. And that may not be the end of it, according to some in the industry.

Plummeting oil prices have raised fears of a worldwide recession, even though countries are still reporting growth in jobs and income. Are there other factors driving oil prices globally?

If prices are going down, suggesting flat or falling demand, why do producers keep adding supply to the market? They should be curtailing production, according to Economics 101. But the oil market doesn’t always seem to follow the rules.

To read more from CU Denver Business School Professor Marcelle Arak on the drop in oil prices, visit The Conversation.