London:
US oil prices crashed to unprecedented lows Monday as futures in New York ended in negative territory for the first time amid a devastating supply glut that has forced traders to pay others to take the commodity.
With space to store oil scarce, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery ended trading at -$37.63 a barrel ahead of Tuesday’s close for futures contracts — when traders who buy and sell the commodity for profit would have had to take physical possession of it.
“It’s a contract for something that nobody wants to buy,” said Matt Smith of ClipperData.
The remarkable decline comes as the petroleum industry emerges as one of the corners of the global economy made most vulnerable by government shutdowns to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Read more: NDTV
