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 [...]
Transport for London ‘in line for Tube bailout’ April 22, 2020 Urban transport operators including Tube operator Transport for London are in line for government bailout as the complete collapse in passenger numbers due to coronavirus raised questions over their survival. The Financial Times reported that Whitehall officials said that emergency funding could be released by the end of the week following negotiations. Passenger numbers have [...]
Coronavirus: Missouri sues Chinese government over handling of virus April 22, 2020 The Midwest state of Missouri has launched a lawsuit against China for the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It says the economic losses is a direct result of the Asian state’s response to the original outbreak in Wuhan. The state’s attorney general Eric Schmitt filed the complaint, alleging that Missouri has lost tens [...]
UN: Number of people facing starvation set to double due to coronavirus April 22, 2020 The world is standing on the brink of a “global humanitarian catastrophe”, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has said, with the coronavirus pandemic set to exacerbate “a perfect storm of deepening crises”. Speaking to the UN Security Council, David Beasley said that even before Covid-19 the world was approaching a hunger [...]
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 [...]
Richard Branson hits out as Virgin Australia goes into administration April 21, 2020 Billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson has hit out at the Australian government after low-cost airline Virgin Australia went into administration this morning. In an open letter, Branson, whose Virgin group owns 10 per cent of the airline, wrote: “In most countries federal governments have stepped in, in this unprecedented crisis for aviation, to help their [...]
Tullow Oil appoints new chief executive amid coronavirus disruption April 21, 2020 Tullow Oil has appointed Rahul Dhir as its new chief executive as the troubled exploratory firm overhauls its business amid the coronavirus oil crash. Dhir, who is currently the chief executive of Africa-based oil firm Delonex, joins Tullow as the firm cuts a third of its workforce and seeks to raise $1bn from the sale [...]
Miner BHP holds on to iron production guidance despite coronavirus April 21, 2020 Mining giant BHP has maintained its production guidance for iron, coal and petroleum for 2020 despite the ongoing economic shutdown caused by coronavirus. However, the firm said that it expected to see double-digit contraction outside of China could contract by a double-digit figure, and that capital spending could fall below the $8bn previously forecast. In [...]
