Energy storage facilities are nearly full, which has added to downward pressure on crude prices. AFP/File/ROSLAN RAHMAN
“To put it simply, there is too much oil with too little space to store it,” said TS Lombard economist Konstantinos Venetis. The negative price means that traders were actually forced to pay to have the crude taken off their hands — yet few could locate buyers with somewhere to store it. This week’s meltdown also saw European benchmark Brent North Sea oil touch a two-decade low of $15.98 on Wednesday, before rocketing higher on threats by US Donald Trump to shoot at Iranian boats in a key waterway for crude shipments.
The enormous storage terminal in Cushing, Oklahoma — where WTI is delivered — is nearly full given ample US production levels.Some cargo ships are meanwhile being requisitioned as tankers.