Oil crashes, ends negative for the first time in history

US crude oil futures turned negative on Monday for the first time in history, ending the day at a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel. Traders sold heavily because of rapidly filling storage space at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point. The May U.S. WTI contract fell $55.9, or 306 per cent, to settle at a discount of $37.63 a barrel after touching an all-time low of -$40.32 a barrel. 

Refiners are processing much less crude than normal, so hundreds of millions of barrels have gushed into storage facilities worldwide. Traders have hired vessels just to anchor them and fill them with the excess oil. A record 160 million barrels is sitting in tankers around the world.

 

Source: Dawn