The price of U.S. oil has turned negative for the first time in history. This happens when demand for crude oil drops to the extent that producers are paying buyers to take the commodity off their hands in order to avoid storage costs.
Demand for oil has fallen as countries across the world have gone into lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. The news came after the price of West Texas Intermediate (the benchmark for U.S.
crude prices) fell 44% to 10.28 US dollars per barrel on Monday morning, levels not seen since 1986. "The WTI May contract is due to expire tomorrow, and it appears the selling pressure is ramping up as dealers scramble to get out of the contract," David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets, said.
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