Even Analysts Perplexed By Sudden Drop in Oil Price Today

Updates

Later, 8:40 pm: someone has suggested it was an algorithm gone wrong; one possibility: someone was testing the effects of an SPR release -- putting numbers into the algorithm to see what would happen; by accident, one of the tests went live;
Later, 6:40 pm: This will make it very, very difficult for the administration to announce release of oil from the SPR this week. CME denies technical glitch; won't cancel oil trades during plunge.

Original Post

Link here to Boston.com.

Traders were unsure of the cause of Monday’s price drop. Some questioned whether an errant trade or another rumor about a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was to blame.

Brent fell similarly.

The fact that analysts don't know and that Brent fell also suggests to me that it involves a decision regarding the SPR.

Remember, tongue-in-cheek, MDW had predicted that there would an announcement to release oil from the SPR would occur at the end of the weekly news cycle, last Friday evening, following the Fed's action that pushed oil up significantly.

Someone knows something; I doubt an errant trade explains this. Peace did not break out in the Mideast. Conspiracy theories point to an SPR decision. And if that announcement is made, there are going to be a lot of "who know what when" questions about the announcement/decision.