Oil benchmark Brent crude is in a tailspin

JOHANNESBURG – Brent crude tumbled to 18-year lows yesterday, tracking Monday’s plunge in the US oil benchmark price to below 0cents a barrel in the commodity’s most extreme fee on record.

The Brent crude price fell 16.03percent to $21.47 a barrel after the collapse in oil demand saw West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark for oil futures, falling to -$40.32 for May.

Oil crashed across the world as a combination of global recession, weak demand, coronavirus pandemic fears, and the continuing standoff between Russia and Saudi Arabia took hold.

In the US, one of the world’s biggest oil consumers, prices fell below $0 for the first time in history before stabilising to at least $1.65 per barrel in intra-day trade.

As the last day for trading in the May contract began on Monday, buyers decided they did not want to receive delivery in May.