Shares of offshore engineered services provider Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII) fell almost 12% in early trading on Feb. 24 and remain down 8.9% at 12:35 p.m. EST, riding the same rough seas that are driving the rest of the market down hard and fast today: coronavirus-induced global fear.
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Crude oil futures are enduring one of the worst days in the past year; West Texas Intermediate crude, the key American benchmark, is down 5.1%, while Brent, the most important global oil benchmark, is down more than 5.4%. This sell-off has a wide swath of oil stocks down sharply today, particularly companies that are typically the first to lose business when oil prices fall, along with companies with weaker balance sheets and less ability to ride out weak oil prices or demand.