An average price of nearly $92 per barrel
Prices have fallen by almost two-thirds since June 2014, when Plains posted an average price of nearly $92 per barrel for Williston Sweet.
News reports in recent days have been full of stories about WTI and Brent futures prices falling down through $50 but many U.S. physical crude producers are receiving far less and would be thrilled if they could get $50.
The recent decline has been almost as rapid and brutal as the second half of 2008 and early 2009 when Williston prices crashed from $116 in July 2008 to average less than $17 in December.
Williston prices are now lower than at any point since January 2007, with the exception of a brief four-month period at the depths of the financial crisis and recession between November 2008 and February 2009.
In 2008-09, prices staged a substantial rebound fairly quickly: by June 2009 the price of Williston Sweet was back above $50.
But at the height of the financial crisis OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, slashed its collective production allocations by almost 4 million barrels per day in a bid to rebalance the market and defend prices.