Oil drops below $0. Yes, $0.
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.
CNN reports "the selloff can be attributed in part to market mechanics," as "the May futures contract for West Texas International, the U.S. benchmark, is about to expire." And amid declining demand during the coronavirus crisis, The Associated Press notes that "traders don't want to get stuck owning crude with nowhere to store it," especially as "concerns grew that storage tanks in the United States are near capacity and unable to hold all the unused crude," as The New York Times writes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"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."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published