For the first time in history, crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday, amid a Coronavirus-induced supply glut, ending the day at minus $37.63 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, also slumped, but that contract was nowhere near as weak because more storage is available worldwide. As billions of people around the globe stay home to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus, physical demand for crude has declined significantly. Refiners are processing much less crude than normal, so hundreds of millions of barrels have gushed into storage facilities worldwide. Traders have hired vessels just to anchor them and fill them with the excess oil. A record 160 million barrels is sitting in tankers around the world.
