It’s one of the world’s most valued commodities. But coronavirus lockdowns have overturned the dominance of oil.
The worth of a barrel of U.S. oil fell to less than nothing on Monday
That’s the first time in history, that the price has turned negative.
This means producers ended up paying buyers more than $30 a barrel to get oil off their hands.
It rebounded slightly to just over $2 the next day. That jaw-dropping slide is because the world has more crude than it can use.
And it is also about how much oil can be stored. Storage facilities and even ocean tankers are filling up.
Fears of not finding a place to put oil in May means nobody wants crude. That’s led to a severe drop for West Texas Intermediate – a benchmark for U.S. oil.
Oil is traded on future contracts and prices for crude to be delivered in June are now at around $20.
The International benchmark for oil Brent crude also went down to its lowest in 18 years.
So, what will that mean for the U.S. and the global economy?
Presenter: Richelle Carey
Bob Cavnar, oil and energy industry expert
Cornelia Meyer, CEO of Meyer Resource and an oil and gas expert
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist, at Axicorp,a global institutional financial services company.
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