【明報專訊】ALREADY suffering from the blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic to the global economy, the world is now greeting yet another ''oil war''. After oil producing nations slashed oil prices to grab market share, international oil prices tumbled 30% at one point yesterday (March 9), leading to stock market crashes around the world. The oil war was triggered by Russia's refusal to cut its oil output and Saudi Arabia's ''mutually destructive'' counterstroke by way of cutting oil prices and boosting production. However, the latest move by Russian President Putin seems to have an ulterior intention of targeting the American shale oil industry. The Kremlin's sudden playing of the oil card comes at a time when the epidemic is worsening in the US and the White House's measures to boost the market have failed to achieve any results. The move is to settle scores with the US by fishing in troubled waters. The concern now is how Washington will react to this. Amid the spreading of the epidemic around the world, theoretically the global community should join hands to fight the disease and refrain from nimbyism. But in reality, the epidemic has triggered even more intrigues among the states. On the surface, the plummeting of oil prices appears to be in the interests of oil users. However, the chain reaction may result in unexpected political and economic crises. Perhaps the oil war's impact on the global economy may be no less than that brought about by the Sino-US trade war or the epidemic.