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Business News of Monday, 20 April 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

US oil prices fall below $0 per barrel for the first time

Crude oil Crude oil

For the first time in history, Oil prices in the United States have fallen below zero to record negative figures.

At the moment, US oil prices have fallen a whopping 306% trading at $-37.63 per barrel.

This means that producers are begging consumers to just take the oil off their hands.

Global stocks are mixed as investors brace for more companies to reveal how much the crisis is costing them.

Monday's plunge comes after prices hit an 18-year low last week as markets realized that record output cuts agreed by OPEC, Russia and other producers aren't nearly enough to offset the loss in demand.

"It hasn't taken long for the market to recognize that the OPEC+ deal will not, in its present form, be enough to balance oil markets," wrote Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, in a research note.

The May futures contract for West Texas International is about to expire, and frantic last-minute trading is compounding concerns about how much oil the United States will be able to store as demand dries up, according to Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. He said that is leading to these "large price swings."

Several reactions on Twitter are recorded below: