American crude oil.
(Image credit: DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images)

Oil prices just took a massive dive and reached a jaw-dropping new low.

On Monday afternoon, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May fell more than 300 percent to a record low of about negative $37 a barrel, Fox Business reports. This was the first time ever that WTI crude oil futures traded at a negative price, Bloomberg reports.

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"In English," CNN's Julia Chatterley said Monday, "what that means is producers will actually have to pay a buyer in order to take oil off them."

The historic drop throughout the afternoon to mere cents and then less than $0 was stunning to witness, though, with CBS' Kathryn Watson tweeting earlier in the afternoon, "Who would have thought we'd see the day where a roll of toilet paper was about 30 times more valuable in terms of what people will pay than a gallon of oil." Putting things even more in perspective, Axios' Dave Lawler at one point tweeted, "a barrel of oil is now cheaper than a barrel of monkeys."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.