Home > Life > Digital Culture

Oil prices are negative and nobody is really sure what that means

Is oil basically free right now?

Morgan Sung

on April 20, 2020

Oil prices are negative and nobody is really sure what that means

As the coronavirus pandemic stretches into 2020, the cost of crude oil plummeted to less than $0 per barrel on Monday.

What does that mean? Most on Twitter are confused.

Social distancing orders and self-quarantine mean that many oil suppliers have an excess of crude oil, since energy needs are down. Because the United States is nearly out of storage to keep crude oil, Politico reports, the cost per barrel for oil to be delivered in May fell to a record -$37.63 on Monday. That means that those contracted to produce oil were literally paying buyers to take it off their hands.

Mashable Trend Report

Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means.