Oil Briefly Dips Below $0, Demand Continues To Diminish – 20 April, 2020

As demand for crude continues to drop while the world is on lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, U.S. oil prices sunk below $0 for the first time ever before recovering. International benchmark Brent crude June delivery was 20 cents or 0.8%  lower to $25.37 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude May deliveries rose $39in thin trade at $1.37, having settled at $37.63 per barrel the previous session. Oil prices took a major hit when many countries enforced travel restrictions in order to try to contain the spread of the virus, will global demand dropping 30%, causing crude stockpiles to grow and storage space to shrink. OPEC and Russia agreed on a 9.7 million barrel per day cut starting in Many, but many believe more cuts will need to be made to balance the market. U.S. crude inventories, on the other hand, are forecast to grow by 16.1 million barrels per day in the week to April 17.