A、The price of oil has plunged more than 50 percent since June. B、The price of oil was $ 50 a barrel in June. C、The price of oil

The oil industry, with its history of booms and busts, appears to be in the early stages of its latest downturn.
    The price of oil has plunged more than 55 percent to under $ 50 a barrel since June. That is the lowest price since the depths of the 2009 recession.
    Oil analysts predict that the price could fall below $ 40 before beginning to rebound. But even optimists say $ 70 a barrel by the end of the year is highly doubtful.
    Why is the price of oil dropping so fast? Why now?
    This a complicated question, but it boils down to the simple economics of supply and demand.
    United States domestic production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports that need to find another home. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil that once found a home in the United
    States is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices.
    On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit.
    Who benefits from the price drop?
    Any motorist can tell you gasoline prices have dropped more than a dollar a gallon in recent months.
    Diesel, heating oil and natural gas prices have also fallen sharply. All together, they represent the equivalent of a sizable tax cut-putting $ 1,000 or more in the pockets of the average family over the next year.
    Europeans and consumers around the world will enjoy similar benefits.
Who loses?
    For starters, oil-producing countries and states. Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Ecuador, Brazil and Russia are just a few petrostates that will suffer economic and perhaps even political turbulence. Persian Gulf states are likely to invest less money around the world, and may cut aid to countries like Egypt.
    In the United States, Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana will face economic challenges. Some smaller oil companies that are heavily in debt may go out of business, pressuring some banks that lend to them. What happened to OPEC?
    The price of oil, as with other commodities, goes up and down. And in the past the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as OPEC, has frequently cut production to firm up prices. Iran, Venezuela and Algeria are pressing the cartel to do so again, but Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other gulf allies are refusing to cut. At the same time, Iraq is actually pumping more.
20. What is said about the price of oil?
21. Which one is not the reason for the dropping of oil price?
22. Who will enjoy the benefits brought by the dropping of oil price?