[Oil price plunge] International oil price catastrophe plunged to a historic close of $ 37 per barrel

world economy

Written by: Li Fuyuan

2020-04-21 03:16

International oil prices plunged catastrophically. New York May oil futures closed at -37.63 US dollars per barrel, a 300% drop, the first drop in history, and June oil prices also fell 16% to 20.84 US dollars per barrel; London Brent Oil closed at US $ 26.23 per barrel, down US $ 1.85 or 6.6%. A negative oil price means that the cost of transporting oil to a refinery or storage has exceeded the value of the oil itself. In theory, buying oil becomes a reward without paying a price.

Under the epidemic, the global demand for oil is almost paralyzed. Oil tanks and fuel tanks around the world are about to overflow, and storage fees are becoming more and more expensive. The analysis pointed out that New York May oil futures will expire after the market closes on Tuesday (21st). Because no one has received the goods, crude oil futures contracts have been sold off, and oil groups and oil-producing countries have not yet begun to reduce production, resulting in oil prices. Tumble.

Michael Tran, managing director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said that there is little that can prevent the spot market from going downhill in the short term. "Oil refiners are refusing to accept oil at a historic rate, so that US reserves are rapidly rising to the limit. Market forces will cause further pain until even the market falls to the bottom or the new coronavirus is cleared, it seems that the former will come first. "

Since the beginning of this year, under the double blow of the new coronavirus and the rupture of the previous oil group and oil-producing country reduction agreement, oil prices have fallen by US $ 50 per barrel, a decline of more than 80%; Crude oil producers continue to produce, causing traders who do not have oil storage capacity to sell oil at any cost.

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