The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has eclipsed all previous major crises facing the global energy sector, according to oil and gas giant BP’s annual industry review.

The company has been compiling such reports for 70 years, and during this time, the document says that the industry has faced serious influence from a number of dramatic events – from the Suez crisis in 1956 to the more recent disaster at Fukushima in 2011. “All these events were great shocks for the global energy sector. But they all pale against the background of last year’s events,” BP chief economist Spencer Dale said.

World oil production fell by 6.6 million barrels per day, which has become a record decline in post-war history. At the beginning of the pandemic, consumption literally collapsed: in April, demand fell by 20 million barrels per day compared to pre-coronavirus levels, which was unprecedented in history. BP recalled that OPEC+ failed to reach agreements on oil production in March 2020, as a result of which a price war continued in the industry for some time. The average price for Brent in 2020 was $41.84, the lowest level since 2004, BP said.