Oil market panic extended into a second day when Brent oil futures prices slumped again on Tuesday. The Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed fuel demand. In the history of oil trading, two of the most turbulent days have been last Monday and Tuesday.
For the first time in history on Monday, the front-month May US contract fell into negative territory. For June delivery, Brent futures LCOc1 settled down 24 percent to $19.33 a barrel. Since February 2002, the level is the lowest. The US WTI crude CLc2 for June fell $8.86 (43 percent) to settle at $11.57.
Expired on Tuesday, the US May contract CLK0CLc1 rose to $10.01 from the previous day’s settlement at minus $37.63, rebounding from its deep dive into negative territory.
After Russia and Saudi Arabia failed to come to terms on extending output cuts, oil inventories have been building for weeks. The pandemic’s spread has cut fuel demand by roughly 30 percent worldwide since that time.
