US oil price turns negative for first time in history

Major oil producers have announced cutbacks in production in hopes of stabilizing the energy market, but many analysts say it is not enough to offset the pandemic shock.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May and June after four days of talks.

Global oil demand is expected to fall by a record 9.3 million bpd year-on-year in 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in its newly-released monthly report.

The IEA said demand in April is estimated to be 29 million bpd lower than a year ago, down to a level last seen in 1995, due to COVID-19 as containment measures have brought mobility almost to a halt.

"We are also running out of places to store oil as demand has cratered," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financials, said in a note on Monday.

The WTI continued to come under heavy pressure as inventories in Cushing, a key US oil hub, have ballooned, while Midwestern refining margins tanked, noted experts at JBC Energy.

Inventories have ballooned by 48 percent to about 55 million barrels, according to a recent report from the Energy Information Administration. Capacity at the hub is about 76 million barrels, according to the IEA.

Many analysts believe headwinds remain on the energy market in the foreseeable future.

"We think it is too early to become outright bullish on the oil and gas sector given the many uncertainties around the supply and demand factors," market strategists at UBS said in a research note, adding there are still opportunities in risks.

"We are also convinced that the global oil industry will survive this crisis and that the recent sell-off has created opportunities in the sector," they said.