BRIAN GAYNOR: Why oil prices fell below zero

Fri, 24 Apr 2020

Negative oil prices early this week attracted substantial media commentary. How could this happen, and does it tell us anything about the global economy at present? Oil futures Oil prices are determined by supply and demand but the daily West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent Crude prices quoted by the media are futures prices, rather than industry prices. These futures prices can fluctuate widely, particularly in uncertain times and when futures contracts near their expiry date. According to the Futures Industry Association, there wa...

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