As a measure to support the battered domestic drilling industry, Trump administration is considering the possibility of stopping incoming Saudi Arabian crude oil shipments. “We certainly have plenty of oil,” President Donald Trump said yesterday.
Amid the supply glut caused by coronavirus pandemic, US crude oil futures for the first time in history on Monday collapsed to trade in negative territory. Futures ended at a stunning minus-$37.63 a barrel on Monday. The collapse in oil prices has threatened to tilt the US oil industry into bankruptcy.
The drop in oil prices described by Trump as short-term. He also mentioned it stemmed from a “financial squeeze”. As states have imposed stay-in-place restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, Trump said the oil industry was hurting from a lack of demand.
Production cuts by some 15 million bpd agreed by OPEC+ and Trump said weak prices could force more declines for economic reasons. Trump restated that his administration plans to top up the country’s emergency crude oil stockpile.
