Beach, Santos, & Woodside shares on watch after oil prices crash

It looks set to be a tough day for energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) on Friday.

This follows a disappointing night of trade for oil prices which saw the price of both Brent and WTI crude oil crash lower.

What happened?

Oil prices sank for the fifth day in a row on Thursday night after a strengthening US dollar, a stuttering COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and rising US crude and fuel inventories weighed heavily on sentiment.

According to CNBC, the Brent crude oil price fell 7% to settle at US$63.28 per barrel and the WTI crude oil price settled 7.1% lower at…