Oil prices steady after historic crash left market reeling April 23, 2020 Oil traders were on the receiving end of some welcome respite this morning as prices firmed overnight after a week of extreme volatility. After yesterday’s collapse to pre-millenium levels, global benchmark Brent crude continued its rally to rise seven per cent to $21.82. US standard West Texas Intermediate also firmed up, gaining 10 per cent [...]
Analysis: Why oil prices turned negative, and might do again April 22, 2020 On Monday night oil prices turned negative for the first time in history, as traders started paying to have barrels of oil taken off their hands due to the total collapse in demand caused by coronavirus. The unprecedented scenes were a result of a number of coalescing factors which created a situation in which buying [...]
Brent crude tumbles overnight to lowest oil prices since millennium April 22, 2020 The price of worldwide benchmark Brent crude tumbled overnight as the global rout of oil prices continued on fears that storage space is rapidly running out. At its nadir, Brent crude fell over 18 per cent to $15.98, a level last seen before the turn of the millennium in mid-1999. As trading opened in London, [...]
Donald Trump calls for state aid to protect battered oil companies April 21, 2020 US president Donald Trump said this afternoon that he had asked the federal government to develop plans to protect domestic oil firms after extraordinary levels of volatility sent prices negative for the first time in history. On Twitter, the president wrote: “We will never let the great US Oil & Gas Industry down. “I have [...]
Brent crude falls below $20 as extreme volatility rattles oil prices April 21, 2020 The price of worldwide oil benchmark Brent crude dropped below $20 for the first time in 18 years this morning after extreme volatility battered global oil markets. A mid-morning plunge sent Brent down to nearly $18, before the commodity recovered to stand 24 per cent down on the day at exactly $20. The fall weighed [...]
Analysis: Can oil prices recover from the coronavirus crash? April 20, 2020 Global oil prices plunged again today amid heightened fears that some producers might have to stop pumping due to the rapid filling of the world’s storage facilities. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, is in freefall, dropping 40 per cent today alone, whilst Brent crude fell over seven per cent. The collapse in prices, coupled [...]
Analysis: US crude oil price collapses as stocks near capacity April 20, 2020 This morning’s collapse in the price of West Texas crude oil has left investors speculating whether US president Donald Trump might bail out the struggling shale industry, which has been decimated by the coronavirus crisis. The US benchmark crude fell below $15 today, its lowest level in 21 years, amid fears that production would have [...]
Netflix’s value hits record $196bn in coronavirus lockdown April 17, 2020 Netflix has become a more valuable company than both US oil giant Exxo Mobil and rival Disney as demand for home entertainment booms amid the coronavirus lockdown. Shares in the streaming company climbed five per cent on Thursday to a new record high of $448, taking its market value to $196bn. At the same time, [...]
Oil majors slash spending plans by a quarter as demand collapses April 16, 2020 The world’s biggest oil firms have cut their capital spending programmes by a combined 26 per cent for 2020 due to the collapse in oil prices caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In total, Reuters data shows that the combined sum of the cuts comes to $60.5bn (£48.2bn), as firms seek to conserve cash among an [...]
Oil prices continue slump as prospects for recovery look slim April 15, 2020 Oil prices continued to fall today amid further signs that Opec’s record production cuts would not be sufficient to stabilize the oil market amid a coronavirus-driven recession. Benchmark Brent crude dropped over six per cent for the second consecutive day, falling to $27.50, while West Texas Intermediate fell below $20 to stand at $19.51. The [...]