(WWJ) Panic over a possible pandemic -- coronavirus -- sent the stock market plummeting 1,000 points this week and has many wondering what's next.
How long will it take to get the virus under control in China? When will the virus make the trek across the world to the United States ... Will the national economy go into recession when it inevitably happens?
And this:
Could it affect daily lives not just with health fears, travel canceled, jobs and investments lost ... but also in the prices we pay at the pump? Gas Buddy's Patrick DeHaan told WWJ anchor Jason Scott the lowest gas prices in a decade are a real possibility if the virus strikes with force in the United States.
"When you look at what's happening in China, certainly in the epicenter of where the coronavirus has taken hold we've seen lockdowns, we've seen transportation systems not work, disrupted, people staying home from home and work, demand for petroleum, demand for oil in China has plummeted. Flights have been canceled and if we were to see some sort of widespread outbreak in the U.S., which is the world's largest oil consumer of oil, it would be fairly detrimental to the global oil demand and thus to prices."
What kind of gas prices could we see?
Worst case scenario, if there's a widespread outbreak in the U.S., the price of oil could halve to $25-$35 a barrel, Dehaan said. "I certainly think it would be some very dark days for the price of oil," DeHaan said. The production of petroleum would also plummet.
If it got to that point, the price of gas could decrease to about $1.50 a gallon, he predicted, much lower than the best price that could be found locally today, where gas was $2.08 a gallon at Meijer in Woodhaven, Mich.
A low price at the pump may seen like a bonus, but the economic factors alongside it could feel catastrophic.
"We'd be far more worried about 401Ks, our stock market, so on and so forth," DeHaan said, adding it's merely speculative, but there are some "worrisome signals" things are about to get worse for the coronavirus, and the global economy.
The higher the infectious rate, the more the spread, the more detrimental to the price of oil, he added.
"Hopefully, it doesn't come to pass," he added.
AAA echoed the sentiment about coronavirus and oil prices, saying in a statement, "Until it appears that the public health threat from the virus declines and China's industrial sector recovers, crude prices are likely to continue facing downward pressure."
China reported 409 new coronavirus cases, bringing their mainland total to 77,150, per USA Today. In China, 2,592 people have died from the virus. It's been detected in 47 countries including Germany, Italy, Japan and Brazil.
The virus, which started in Wuhan, China, now has affected 53 people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. No one in America has died. Of those confirmed cases, 12 were travel-related and two were spread from person-to-person in the U.S. The other cases involve three people from China and 36 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
