By Jesse Cohen
Investing.com - Oil prices rose on Thursday, however the market continued to struggle with a massive glut of crude supplies amid a collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up $2.60, or more than 18%, at $15.38 a barrel in early trade.
U.S. crude futures fell into negative territory for the first time in history on Monday, dropping to as low as minus -$40 per barrel on concerns that buyers were running out of storage space to take deliveries.
In the U.S., the situation is thought to be particularly acute, with storage facilities at the country’s main delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma expected to be full within weeks.
The Cushing storage hub was reported to be 77% full as of April 17, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), with the last two-week builds “pointing to a stock-out by the first week of May.”
Oil prices have slumped by around 75% this year as the Covid-19 pandemic has spread across the world, leading to what could be the worst economic meltdown since the depression of the 1930s.
Prices have tumbled so much that a barrel of WTI crude is now cheaper than a Big Mac Happy Meal at McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) or a large pizza pie from Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ).
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