The price of crude oil suffered its biggest single-day drop in price since September 2015 over fears of a growing oil glut.

West Texas Intermediate crude closed the day at $55.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 4.24 a barrel or 7.1 percent. It is also the lowest price-per-barrel closing price in almost a year, since Nov. 16, 2017.

Steve Boyd with Suncoast Resources, which operates an office in Broussard, said the sudden plunge came as a surprise.

“If you are an oil field producer who came in late in the game, you are probably a little shell-shocked,” Boyd said. “When we came in today, no one thought it would close at $55.69, down from $75 a month ago.”

The latest drop comes after 12 straight days of losses, spurred on Monday when President Donald Trump tweeted that oil prices were still too high despite increased U.S. and OPEC production. The almost two-week long price decline is the longest seen since WTI was added to the NYMEX in 1983.

Even with that kind of history behind the price decline, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association President Gifford Briggs said the industry as a whole does not react to temporary trends.

“Short-term fluctuations in price aren’t going to have a significant impact on the industry,” Briggs said Tuesday afternoon. “If we see this for a long period of time, several months, then the industry will have to start to respond.”

That response, Briggs said, could be a redux of what the Gulf Coast saw in 2015, when production slowed and rig counts dropped. He does not see that things are that dire yet, however.

“You would see fewer rigs and a slowdown in production,” Briggs said. “But already you see OPEC signalling it may have to cut back. They enjoy having the price at $75 barrel. We’re not going to hit the panic button over a short-term drop in price.”

Mike Tarantino, director of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, said he thinks the current malaise is an adjustment, not a trend.

“The oil price  has dropped precipitously, but it is more due to worldwide events, like the, Iran oil embargo,” Tarantino said. “I don’t expect the decline in prices to continue. I expect it to rebound.”

Tarantino said the increase in U.S. production actually puts the country — and the Gulf region — in a stronger position.

“The Saudis are cutting back production, and the U.S. is already the world’s net largest oproducing country,” Tarantino said. “This is going to cause more opportunities for shale production and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. We are seeing some interest in projects here, like construction and drill ships.”

Boyd said he does not see the U.S. production slowing down, based on the current administration’s push to produce more oil and natural gas, which means any adjustment would have to come from other suppliers like OPEC, which includes Russia. 

“When everyone jumps on same side of small boat, it can tip over,” he said. “Since the beginning of time, supply and demand have driven markets, but you have to sprinkle in other factors.”

Aside from the traditional factors that led to Tuesday’s price drop, Boyd said there may be other variables involved.

“Computer trading took over,” he said. “Programs are designed to buy and sell in a nanosecond. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will prove to be very interesting.”