#Repost @businessweek --- ● It's never happened before. ⠀ ● #Oilfutures collapsed to below zero for the #firsttimeever as the deepening #economicturmoil caused by the coronavirus #crisis left #traders desperate to avoid taking delivery of physical crude.⠀ ⠀ ● In an unprecedented day of trading, the price for the May contracts #wipedout all value, breaking every low for oil prices since 1946. The exchange where #WTIfutures trade said the contract would be allowed to price below zero. The extreme move showed just how oversupplied the U.S. oil market has become with industrial and economic activity grinding to a halt as #governments around the globe extend shutdowns due to the swift spread of the coronavirus. An #unprecedented output deal by #OPEC and allied members a week ago to curb supply is proving too little too late in the face a one-third collapse in global demand.⠀ ⠀ ● On Monday, a technical oddity exacerbated the price plunge as traders fled the May futures contract ahead of its expiration tomorrow. The following month’s contract fell 12% to $22.05 a #barrel, making the spread between the two months blow out more than $20.⠀ ⠀ ● “There is little to prevent the physical market from the further acute downside path over the near term,” said Michael Tran, managing director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets. “#Refiners are rejecting barrels at a historic pace and with U.S. storage levels sprinting to the brim, market forces will inflict further pain until either we hit rock bottom, or #COVID clears, whichever comes first, but it looks like the former.”⠀ #COVID19 #covid-19 #covid19india #covid19us #covid19world #oilprice #oilprices #oilpricedrop #crudeoil #crude #rbccapitalmarkets https://www.instagram.com/p/B_PAw0oh_Tf/?igshid=xmsd1pgj809f
