ENERGIE
Olieprijzen negatief nu vraag stokt
April 21, 2020 -
De prijs van Amerikaanse ruwe olie duikelde onder $0 per vat met een
terugloop in vraag door het coronavirus – volgens analisten de eerste keer dat de prijs van een futurescontract olie negatief staat.
West Texas Intermediate crude briefly dropped as low as -$40 per barrel on Monday before closing at -$37.63.
The unprecedented event in energy markets reflects the fact that storage facilities are struggling to cope with the huge and sudden plunge in global demand, which is this month forecast to hit its lowest since the mid-90s. On Tuesday, the cost to have a barrel of U.S. crude delivered in May was at -$7.40 per barrel.
The severe drop on Monday was driven in part by a technicality of the global oil market. Oil is traded on its future price and May futures contracts are due to expire on Tuesday. Traders were keen to offload those holdings to avoid having to take delivery of the oil and incur storage costs, according to BBC News.