A gruesome combination of crumbling demand for crude and global storage filled to its brim has pushed oil prices to levels not seen in over two decades, EDNews.net reports citing Russia Today.
US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, has fallen to the $12 range as global economies remain on lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, crushing crude demand. To add insult to injury, global oil storage is reaching its limits.
The situation is so dire, in fact, that the Department of Energy is even considering paying domestic oil producers to keep crude in the ground.
The oil price collapse is sending shockwaves throughout the entire industry, with oil majors slashing spending across the board, and explorers cutting as much as 13 percent of their drilling fleet as the crisis rages on.
The troubling times have even forced the Texas Railroad Commission to consider the unthinkable, mandate a state-wide production cut. While the three commissioners were unable to come to a decision last Tuesday, the group is set to meet again on April 21st. And with oil prices having fallen an addition 20 percent since their last meeting, they might just be ready to take action.
