Oil Plunges Below Zero for First Time With May Contract Ending

This should speed up Trumps regime change in Venezuela.

Pretty much the final nail in the coffin for Alberta's oil patch. Foreign companies are not going to keep spending money in Alberta when they have their own problems at home to deal with. Alberta's oil sands oil has one of the highest break even prices of all the oil fields in North America. I do not see oil hitting that price any time soon. Satellite pictures show how much cleaner the world has become in a short time with everyone staying home. The people who are still driving every day are loving this situation. Low gas prices, no gridlock on the highways, less accidents, lower insurance rates. Who is going to want to go back to the way things were? If people are successfully doing their jobs from home, than stay there!!! There is no need for them to go to an office every day. All they are doing is screwing up the commute, polluting the atmosphere, causing accidents, etc. I would not be surprised to see a lot more schools sticking with learning at home. We were gradually heading that way. This crisis will expedite the process. Look at the money municipalities can save without having to heat/cool, maintain big expensive buildings,fewer employees, etc.

I think oil prices will naturally rise some when this crisis is over, but I do not see it hitting the break even point for Alberta's oilfields for years. Nationalism is on the rise again as so many people are out of work. There will be tremendous pressure on politicians to bring the jobs back home for good. Its going to take another peak oil moment before the patch can be productive again. With less consumption and new renewable energy sources coming online, that could be a very long time from now. If any companies in the patch are offering early retirement, I would be taking it!

Won't be surprised if the price at the pump is 2.99$ a litre before the end of the year.

Fuel could drop below 60 cents a litre because of this, and I think that's awesome. About time there was some good news for a change.

-J.

Yeah but the first part made me burst out laughing..



Annnnnd then it made me sad.

The irony I see is that of blind capitalism. Companies had to keep pumping because profit was so low. Which drove prices down. Which caused them to keep pumping. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The thing they needed to do was start giving people half shifts. Days off. Reduce the flow, bring the price back up. But there wasn't even a thought of doing that.

The irony I see is that of blind capitalism. Companies had to keep pumping because profit was so low. Which drove prices down. Which caused them to keep pumping. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The thing they needed to do was start giving people half shifts. Days off. Reduce the flow, bring the price back up. But there wasn't even a thought of doing that.

Exactly!

For as bad off as Alberta is, I imagine this price war will bite the Saudis even harder as their economy is even more reliant on oil. What else do they export, Wahhabism?

You mean the Saudi royals, right? Because Saudi citizens don't see any of that money anyway.

The Saudi Royal family will be just fine.

Venezuela on the other hand is screwed.

As is Alberta.

The irony I see is that of blind capitalism. Companies had to keep pumping because profit was so low. Which drove prices down. Which caused them to keep pumping. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The thing they needed to do was start giving people half shifts. Days off. Reduce the flow, bring the price back up. But there wasn't even a thought of doing that.

I dunno. I think it just costs too much to shut down then start back up again...

The irony I see is that of blind capitalism. Companies had to keep pumping because profit was so low. Which drove prices down. Which caused them to keep pumping. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The thing they needed to do was start giving people half shifts. Days off. Reduce the flow, bring the price back up. But there wasn't even a thought of doing that.

I dunno. I think it just costs too much to shut down then start back up again...

The futures market being negative means oil companies have to pay pipeline providers to take their oil. And no one is buying!

I think a slow down would have to be cheaper than paying providers to take your product. And since price incr4eases with scarcity, profit would have risen over the long term too.