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May 2020 WTI crude oil price trades as low as negative $40.32/barrel

Today was the day to corner the WTI crude oil market, if you have a warehouse or something.
Asif Khan
Asif Khan
21

This may sound like a weird story to come out of Shacknews, but these are unprecedented times and sustainable energy consumption is a within our expanded coverage universe. The COVID-19 pandemic has many people doing their part to flatten the curve and stay home, and that has hit demand for crude oil. The May 2020 WTI crude oil contract crashed today by over 100%, which is apparently a thing that can happen. A barrel of crude oil to be delivered in May actually was assigned as low of a price as negative $40.32/barrel. That's right, negative.

Today's oil price crash is a giant signal of the weakness in demand and the vast oversupply of WTI crude oil across the world. 

The May WTI crude oil contract flipped to a negative value during afternoon trading on the CME.
The May WTI crude oil contract flipped to a negative value during afternoon trading on the CME.

How can an asset trade for negative value? I am not really sure, but we sure do live in unprecedented times. The June 2020 WTI crude oil contract trades for a sligtly less apocalyptic value of $21.03/barrel. Tune in next month to see if the oversupply continues. 

We have had a number of Shackers posting about today's oil price decline in our daily Finance Shack Chatty thread. Viewers of our 9to5 Elon podcast may remember my rant about shorting energy companies instead of Tesla shares earlier this year. Check it out, in case you missed it!

While a ton of money may have just been evaporated in the oil markets today, a lot of great efforts are being made globally to fight against the healthcare and economic impacts of this wretched COVID-19 pandemic. Just this weekend, Games Done Quick raised over $400,000 during their first Corona Relief Done Quick livestream marathon. 

Developing...

CEO/EIC/EIEIO
CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.

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