US oil prices crashed to unprecedented lows on Monday as futures in New York ended in negative territory for the first time amid a devastating supply glut that has forced traders to pay others to take the commodity.
With space to store oil scarce, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery ended trading at -US$37.63 a barrel ahead of Tuesday's close for futures contracts - when traders who buy and sell the commodity for profit would have had to take physical possession of it.Virgin Australia reportedly set to file for administration
The commodity has been further weakened by a battle for market share that raged much of the spring between Saudi Arabia and Russia. "It hasn't taken long for the market to recognise that the OPEC+ deal will not, in its present form, be enough to balance oil markets."US oil futures for delivery in May also fell sharply, by 18 per cent, but finished at US$20.43 per barrel.The European benchmark contract, London Brent North Sea oil for June delivery, ended down nine percent at US$25.57 per barrel.
"Since then traders have sent prices up and down on speculation, hopes, tweets and wishful thinking. But now reality is sinking in."The cratering of the oil market prompted more selling on Wall Street, where all three indices were decisively negative in the final hour of trading.
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