Oil Prices Fall to a 21-Year Low, as Demand Dries Up
Posted on 04/20/2020
The price of a West Texas Intermediate (WTI) barrel is a benchmark for U.S. oil. The price of a barrel of WTI fell 19.3% to US$ 14.74 a barrel on April 20, 2020. The price of WTI oil has not fallen to this level since 1999.
The fallout of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic is killing oil demand globally, while oil storage facilities are struggling to deal with the glut of oil, putting additional pressure on the global crude oil price. OPEC+ finally agreed to cut global output by roughly 10%. The impact of the viral outbreak might prove to be too much.
The U.S. Department of Energy is considering paying American oil producers to keep crude oil in the ground. Oil majors have been cutting capital expenditures and other spending across the board, impacting employees. For example, embattled Mexican state-owned oil giant Pemex is planning to stall some energy projects.