firn---now comes the Russian economy crash that Putin did not calculate when he made his Crimea and eastern Ukraine moves.

LONDON (AP) -- Oil prices sank to four-year lows on Tuesday following reports Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest oil producer, is cutting its prices for customers in the U.S.

By early afternoon London time, a barrel of benchmark crude was down $2.07, or 2.6 percent, at $76.79, its lowest level since September 2010. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down $2.14, or 2.5 percent, at $82.63 a barrel, its lowest level since October 2010.
The market was shaken by news that Saudi Arabia was cutting prices for the U.S. to compete with the surge in oil production there.

"A snowballing effect is what we are seeing in crude oil price today," said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at Forex.com. "News that Saudi has cut its asking price to customers in the U.S. suggests even the largest OPEC producer is now worried about its market share. This does not bode well for the future of the cartel."